Status of the Idaho Falls Auditorium District

In 2011, the Idaho Falls community elected to create an auditorium district to create a multi-purpose event center. The event center would have enough space for hockey, hosting trade shows, regional sports championships, conferences, concerts, and much more. The possibilities sent a shiver of excitement down the spine of Idaho Falls as a whole. 

A lot has happened since citizens first voted to start the auditorium district, including the hiring of a new Executive Director in 2019. So, Idaho Falls magazine staff sat down to get the official scoop on the status of the event center from the new Executive Director, Rob Spear. 

IFM: How did you get involved with the Idaho Falls Auditorium District?

RS: They were looking for an executive director and I was looking for something to do. I thought it was a tremendous opportunity to do something that's never been in this community. It isn’t very often in a career that you get the opportunity to be involved in a project that has such a significant impact to a community.  To see that come to fruition will be very rewarding for sure. There's so much potential for this community and I think this Event Center is a huge thing from an economic development, entertainment and quality of life viewpoint.

IFM: Where is all of the money for the event center coming from?

RS: Transient Room Tax revenues and fundraising.  There's this huge misperception that people believe that room tax revenues are coming from property tax or personal income tax, it's not.  Room tax revenues are collected when a person stays in a hotel or other short-term rental.  The Idaho Falls Auditorium District aligns   with the city. A person who is staying overnight in a hotel will pay 5% of whatever the cost of the room is and then that money comes back to the district. So, it's not coming from a property tax or coming from a personal income tax at all.  The second piece of funding is coming from donations and sponsorships.  As you know, Mountain America Credit Union has purchased the naming rights for this facility.  

IFM: What type of events do you foresee being held at the event center the most?

RS: It is truly going to be a multi-purpose Event Center and will bring a variety of entertainment opportunities to the area; including concerts, Disney on Ice and opportunities for trade shows and conferences.  A Junior Hockey team will be the anchor tenant.  The association with hockey will enhance the hockey and ice-skating programs in this community.   Right now, there just isn’t enough ice space for the community and this facility will help solve that problem.  Currently there is only one sheet of ice in town.   We want to help the community. We want to be the ones that help promote youth hockey and adult hockey and public skating.

IFM: What kind of economic impact will this event center have on the community once it’s built?

RS: In 2018, the District funded a feasibility study that once fully operational, the Event Center will annually host 160 event days attracting 120,000 attendees.  The study estimated that the Event Center will create 130 full and part-time jobs annually, resulting in an economic impact of $121M and Personal Income (Earnings) of $42M over a ten-year period. 

IFM: What has been accomplished in the last six months?

RS: The Board has been very aggressive in moving this project forward and committed to constructing the building pad, installation of the underground utilities and the expansion of Pioneer Road.

IFM: What is your message to community members and business owners looking to get involved?

RS: Assuming we get favorable construction bids, we are $2-3 million away from making this dream become a reality.  We have approximately 92-93% of the funding necessary to start construction.  Help us get across the finish line.

IFM: What makes you most excited about completing this project?

RS: I want to be there when we bring in Disney on Ice. I want to see this 5 or 6-year old child and the look in their eyes as they watch this performance in their hometown. The same goes with a hockey kid who's been traveling all over this region to play hockey because they love it. I want to be able to watch that kid play in their own town and go home and sleep in their own bed. That would be the neatest thing for me to see.

Want to read more from February's issue? Click here!