Return to Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site

Return to Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
 
 

[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

  The lack of specifics comes although local money was a linchpin in negotiations with communities vying to land the attraction, estimated to cost $150 million to $155 million.

  The main sources are likely to be hotel/motel tax money and tax increment financing, along with some private donations, Earthpark Executive Director David Oman said. But how much from each source is not determined.

  In 2005, the Pella Convention and Visitors Bureau received $245,130 in hotel/motel tax money from the city, tourism director Jill Vandevoort said. The visitors bureau receives 57 percent of the hotel/motel tax the city collects,  she said. That calculates to a total hotel/motel tax collection for the city of about $430,052. Pella has about 400 hotel rooms, the visitors bureau’s Web site says.

  A Des Moines-based development group that played a lead role in Pella landing the project is proposing a new 300-room hotel as part of its development, spokesman Eric Woolson said Friday. The group wants Earthpark in its 240- acre residential, recreational and retail development on Lake Red Rock.

  Woolson said the hotel/motel tax would not be the only source tapped and that all the money does not have to come in one year. ‘‘It could be worked out over 15 years, 10 years, five years,’’ he said.

  Earthpark’s board selected Pella on Thursday over Riverside for the attraction, which will feature a 4-acre indoor rain forest, 600,000- gallon aquarium, exterior prairie and wetland exhibits and environmental galleries.

  In addition to comparing land offered by the communities, Oman said, the board spent August and September weighing financial plans for the $25 million local match. That included considering the proposed money sources, how much money would be paid upfront and how easily it could be raised, he said.

  ‘‘We were satisfied Pella was in a stronger position to fulfill what had been offered to us,’’ Oman said.

  Ambiguity remains because the site selection was necessary before a final financial agreement can be reached, Oman and Woolson said. Earthpark, Pella and the developers began negotiating Thursday afternoon.

  The local match is an Earthpark requirement because the organization wants it for leverage next year for seeking a Vision Iowa grant and other funds. Earthpark needs to raise $50 million by December 2007 or it will lose a $50 million federal grant.

  Whether it gets the $25 million by the end of December this year can be subject to negotiations, Earthpark officials said Friday. Oman called hotel/ motel tax revenue and tax increment financing the ‘‘building blocks’’ of a larger package. He said a private donation by the developers also is in the mix. Woolson declined to talk about that, but said 70 valuable acres already had been donated for Earthpark.

  Woolson said one option that has been discussed is the developers giving Earthpark $25 million to meet next year’s federal deadline. They would then pay themselves back, at least in part, with proceeds from the hotel/motel tax over a period of years.

  Oman and Woolson said they were confident an agreement would be reached and hoped it would be within a few months.