A conference center that could host events for as many as 1,000 people is planned as part of the city’s LINC redevelopment project, along the Lincoln Way corridor between Clark and Kellogg avenues in Ames.

LINC is a $150 million mixed-use development that encompasses more than 20 properties the city has acquired and cleared. The development will include a hotel, shopping and restaurants. A second phase would add apartments to the development.

The plan could also include an events center — something that Discover Ames, the convention and visitors bureau in Ames, pitched in a memo to the Ames City Council recently.

The proposal was the result of a feasibility study conducted among event planners, area businesses and residents earlier this year that found a demand for an event space in the city.

Leaders have long touted the need for more event space in the city. In 2014, a bond issue to fund a new convention center was largely rejected by voters.

Andy Moore, pictured above, director of marketing and communications for Discover Ames, said a conference and event center would complement the overall LINC development, and help attract events to the city that it might otherwise miss out on because it lacks space to accommodate larger groups.

The location also connects the city from east to west and provides easy access to Iowa State University, he said.

It also fits in well with the city’s Downtown Vision Plan, a working document directed by Ames Main Street in partnership with the city that is designed to help take the city’s already vibrant downtown to the next level.

Moore said Discover Ames is working with design and engineering firm ISG on a site plan for the event center. The goal, he said, is to provide between 35,000 square feet and 40,000 square feet of open space for larger events and conferences. It could also be divided to create smaller spaces. There would also be reception and registration areas and additional breakout rooms, he said.

Once a site plan is in place, Discover Ames will begin working on a design. When that process begins, the vision of what the center could look like will become much clearer, Moore said.

The event space will provide a much-needed amenity for Ames, Moore said.

“We don’t have a facility of this size and type,” he said. “We really need a conference center with a hotel connected to it. It would make us more competitive.”

Moore said the city loses out on more than 200 events a year because it lacks enough space to accommodate them.

“There are other communities in our state that have a facility like that, and we have a lot of groups that would love to host their event here with between 400 and 1,000 people and this would fulfill that need,” he said.

A survey of those groups that did not come to Ames showed that 80% would consider moving their event to Ames once the event center is built, Moore said.

“It’s just another way to serve our community and enhance the economic outlook of our community,” he said. “We’re leading the charge on this  because it’s our mission to help grow our community visitations.”

Because it’s in its very preliminary stages, no cost estimate has been established, Moore said, but there is some private investment behind the project and Discover Ames hopes to get support from the city and Story County, as well as tap into federal and state grants. Discover Ames will also conduct a capital campaign, he said.

In a news release, officials with Discover Ames said that once built, the event center will operate as a nonprofit under Discover Ames, the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, the city of Ames or Story County. 

“The LINC itself may be the single most transformative development Ames has ever seen, and the Ames Event Center will be the ideal anchor that can serve all types of groups and events,” Discover Ames President Kevin Bourke said in the release.

The LINC project is moving ahead despite a decision by the Iowa Economic Development Authority in June to reject the city’s application for funds through the Iowa Reinvestment District Act and rescinded its provisional approval that was granted in 2021. In its decision, the board and IEDA staff cited several hurdles that prevented approval of the application.

Moore said Discover Ames staff expects that construction on the events center and the hotel that is planned as part of the LINC project will begin around the same time.

“Construction will hopefully begin in 2026 with an anticipated opening for the events center specifically in the first quarter of 2028,” he said.