The new Iowa West Field House opened last month and is located in the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.
Pete Tulipana, President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, says the field house came to fruition to achieve two goals for the Foundation simultaneously.
He says one was to address the need for indoor court space for Southwest Iowa teams.
Tulipana says that issue had been mentioned by the community repeatedly in multiple surveys given by the Foundation.
He says the new field house can be used for 10 volleyball courts or eight basketball courts, as well as anything else that can be played on hard courts.
"Our second goal was economic development which influenced where we decided to build the field house. The Mid-America Center as a location, we think, will serve as a catalyst to attract other businesses because of the thousands of kids and families who are going to be coming in and out of the field house on a daily basis.”
Tulipana says the second part of economic development involves bringing tournaments to the field house.
He says having tournaments will bring teams from all over the region to stay in area hotels, creating more economic development in that area.