Iowa Using $23.5 Million in COVID Aid for ‘Field of Dreams’ Stadium

By Adam Andrzejewski for RealClearPolicy

Capitalizing on the feel-good nostalgia of the “Area of Desires” movie, and the success of Main League Baseball video games performed on a brief subject constructed close to the movie’s web site, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is utilizing $12.5 million from the state’s Covid-19 reduction funds to assist construct a everlasting Area of Desires Ballpark within the metropolis of Dyersville, in line with the Des Moines Register.

That comes after she already dedicated one other $11 million from Covid-19 funds to construct water and sewer strains to the Area of Desires stadium web site.

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Together with metropolis and county funds, and $1.5 million from the U.S. Financial Improvement Administration, the federal funds go towards the $50 million undertaking.

These funds come from Reynolds’s grant program “Vacation spot Iowa,” created with $100 million of the $4.5 billion slice of the pie Iowa acquired from the American Rescue Plan Act, the March 2021 congressional coronavirus reduction invoice.

The spending is required “to bolster the standard of life in Iowa’s communities and entice guests and new residents to the state,” Reynolds stated in a press launch. “The hospitality trade within the State of Iowa skilled a 46.1 % lower in employment and there was an total 29 % decline in customer spending on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Area of Desires Ballpark, not anticipated to be prepared for play till 2024, is one among various initiatives inside Vacation spot Iowa that proports to assist Iowa recuperate.

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Whereas a feasibility examine expects the ballpark to have 136,000 patrons yearly, make use of 81 individuals in new jobs and host 62 occasions, bringing in $9.1 million in investments the primary 12 months, some financial improvement consultants are skeptical about how a lot financial profit the ballpark will convey, The Register reported.

Neither the company occasions, banquets, concert events and festivals, nor the baseball video games wanted to maintain the ballpark, are assured, consultants stated, noting it might compete with cities Dubuque and Cedar Rapids for occasions.

Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.

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