Old ‘MCI’ building in Sergeant Bluff will house a new arena

Sgt. Bluff, IA (KTIV) - A new arena, centered on indoor sports in it’s first phase, will find a home inside the old “MCI” building in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

Mayor Jon Winkel made the announcement Tuesday night during the town’s “Community Conversation.” He also shared details of the project, which will happen in two phases.

The first phase will be the arena inside the building. The arena will include basketball courts, an indoor turf, and an exercise area. There will also be space for community gatherings, and retail.

Even though there isn’t a set timeline for work on the project, a lot of work is already done.

“The building has already been totally gutted so that was a big project and thats already complete, that’s been going on for about two months. So, it’s well underway and indications are that they will have the facility open probably late this year,” said Winkel.

The second phase will include a 3-to-4-story hotel that will be built in part of the existing parking lot.

Even though this project started gaining traction this past year, it has been in the works for a lot longer.

“When I was first elected, that was on my super secret bucket list for the city was to get that building back on the tax roll and to provide some services of some time so we’ve been actively working on it for 7 years,” said Winkel.

So far, private investors have funded the project.

The developer for the project is R Perry Construction.

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