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Gov. Kim Reynolds allocates $12.5 million for permanent Field of Dreams stadium

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Federal money, of course:

Dyersville will receive $12.5 million in federal funding from the state toward a planned baseball stadium on the “Field of Dreams” movie site, part of a broad baseball and tourism project planned on the site.


According to a release from Gov. Kim Reynolds, the money will go toward the This is Iowa Ballpark, a multiuse, $50 million stadium on the set of the 1989 film.


“I am grateful and proud that we were able to secure that funding,” Dyersville Mayor Jeff Jacque said. “It’s a great down payment, and it will help to raise some more funds when we have that much money already set aside for the project.”


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The announcement, which accounts for 25 percent of the stadium’s funding, came in the latest round of grants from Destination Iowa and is the largest single grant by the program to date. The program is a $100 million fund set up to promote tourism and attract new residents to Iowa using federal pandemic relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act.


Destination Iowa has granted more than $37 million to tourism and economic development projects around the state across three rounds of funding this year.


The stadium is part of a larger $80 million project that will include nine fields for youth baseball, a hotel, event space, an RV park and an amphitheater. The project is being developed by Go The Distance Baseball LLC, which owns the Field of Dreams site.


The city of Dyersville approved up to $9.5 million in tax-increment financing for the complex in July, according to the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. Jacque said the city and the company behind the project are searching for private investors and sponsors to reach the $50 million cost of the project.


Jacque Rahe, executive director of Dyersville Economic Development Corp., said the stadium will bring tourists and economic development to the site.


“We are thrilled that the state of Iowa has shared our vision for a permanent stadium that will really enhance tourism and economic development regionally and throughout the state,” she said.





The project is slated to be completed by the end of 2026, according to the Telegraph-Herald.


This is the second investment in the Field of Dreams brand coming out of Destination Iowa. In June, the state announced it would devote $6 million to the development of a “Field of Dreams” TV adaptation, which is in production and headed by Michael Schur, whose TV credits include “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” and “The Good Place.”


The Field of Dreams movie site, long a notable tourist attraction in Dyersville, got national attention in 2021 when it hosted its first Major League Baseball game. The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are slated to play in the second MLB game at the site Thursday.

 
Seems to me this could be self funded.

MLB and whoever is broadcasting has to be making a bunch of money.

you could probably have UofI play a series there and pack it. I would let be surprised if maybe the Big10 would be open to the idea of playing some of its tournament there.

the championship games of Iowa high school.

I was there last night and it is a great experience. Just don’t see why it needs other peoples money.
 
Its out of 100 million that is supposed to drive tourism. Tell me a bigger driver of tourism in iowa right now than Field of Dreams.
Fine, but it's something that's realistically only accessible for maybe 7-8 months a year.

Seems trivial to me...and I love baseball.
 
Yeah I guess it is really dumb to bring money from outside the state in to the state... wait. That's not dumb at all!

We are never going to compete with Florida or California or New York for tourists. We are never going to compete with Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City for tourists. It's silly for Iowa to worry about developing tourism. Field of Dreams is kind of an exception to this since it's a big Hollywood deal. Thanks Hollywood for giving Iowa a reasonable tourist trap that really has nothing to do with the state other than filming location and general background of a financial crisis in ag that is overlooked in favor of some quasi-spiritual nonsense.
 
We are never going to compete with Florida or California or New York for tourists. We are never going to compete with Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City for tourists. It's silly for Iowa to worry about developing tourism. Field of Dreams is kind of an exception to this since it's a big Hollywood deal. Thanks Hollywood for giving Iowa a reasonable tourist trap that really has nothing to do with the state other than filming location and general background of a financial crisis in ag that is overlooked in favor of some quasi-spiritual nonsense.
Baseball is big in small towns in Iowa so it kind of has something to do with Iowa.
 
If this is the state’s top tourism attraction, then that’s pretty damn sad. Most Iowans haven’t bothered to go see it, why would others visit from out of state?
 
Baseball is big in small towns in Iowa so it kind of has something to do with Iowa.

Is it bigger in Iowa than anywhere else? It used to be the national pastime before football. I actually think the small towns where it's big are the exceptions (Dyersville, Lansing, North Sentral, Norway, others I'm sure I'm forgetting). I think baseball is bigger in Des Moines and the Quad Cities than in most small towns. I think basketball is bigger than baseball in most of NW Iowa. And of course football king at a lot of places.
 
If this is the state’s top tourism attraction, then that’s pretty damn sad. Most Iowans haven’t bothered to go see it, why would others visit from out of state?
The movie site continues to prosper 33 years after the film’s debut, having welcomed more than 225,000 visitors in 2021, the highest annual traffic since the site’s inception.


it is only going to get bigger with all the AAU fields and other stuff they are building out there…
 
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The movie site continues to prosper 33 years after the film’s debut, having welcomed more than 225,000 visitors in 2021, the highest annual traffic since the site’s inception.


it is only going to get bigger with all the AAU fields and other stuff they are building out there…
I've been once before I saw the movie and relieved it was cool. An out of state aunt had to transport the kids from Des Moines to Waterloo and did so via Dyersville.
 
My previous job had visiting coworkers based all over The US and Canada and many went to field of dreams while visiting…
It is legitimately one of the few things we can promote to general tourists. I just hope we don't get greedy and try to build hotels in McGregor thinking we're going to draw people to Spook Cave. I think conservation (which hasn't been great recently) is the way to go for attracting outsiders to the state. Think we'd be more likely to get more outdoorsy travelers than families on vacation.
 
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It is legitimately one of the few things we can promote to general tourists. I just hope we don't get greedy and try to build hotels in McGregor thinking we're going to draw people to Spook Cave. I think conservation (which hasn't been great recently) is the way to go for attracting outsiders to the state. Think we'd be more likely to get more outdoorsy travelers than families on vacation.
👍
 
It is legitimately one of the few things we can promote to general tourists. I just hope we don't get greedy and try to build hotels in McGregor thinking we're going to draw people to Spook Cave. I think conservation (which hasn't been great recently) is the way to go for attracting outsiders to the state. Think we'd be more likely to get more outdoorsy travelers than families on vacation.

Perhaps if Iowa took care of its natural resources (clean water), fewer Iowans would head to Minnesota or Wisconsin for a summer vacation. I would start with motivating people from traveling out of state, rather than how to pull people into the state. It would probably help with general population/talent retention too.
 
It is legitimately one of the few things we can promote to general tourists. I just hope we don't get greedy and try to build hotels in McGregor thinking we're going to draw people to Spook Cave. I think conservation (which hasn't been great recently) is the way to go for attracting outsiders to the state. Think we'd be more likely to get more outdoorsy travelers than families on vacation.

Spook Cave huh,... yeah we're going to have to rename that.
 
We are never going to compete with Florida or California or New York for tourists. We are never going to compete with Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City for tourists. It's silly for Iowa to worry about developing tourism. Field of Dreams is kind of an exception to this since it's a big Hollywood deal. Thanks Hollywood for giving Iowa a reasonable tourist trap that really has nothing to do with the state other than filming location and general background of a financial crisis in ag that is overlooked in favor of some quasi-spiritual nonsense.
Is this sarcasm? This is the second post I've seen today where I can't tell.

We don't have tourism as good as other places so don't even try? That has to be sarcastic right?
 
Is this sarcasm? This is the second post I've seen today where I can't tell.

We don't have tourism as good as other places so don't even try? That has to be sarcastic right?
Not at all sarcastic. I think it's odd that you're giddy about the good government of promoting tourism in Iowa. Jobs and cheap houses bring people and tax revenue to Iowa. Not tourism. This is a good project I think. But it's exceptional for Iowa.
 
Not at all sarcastic. I think it's odd that you're giddy about the good government of promoting tourism in Iowa. Jobs and cheap houses bring people and tax revenue to Iowa. Not tourism. This is a good project I think. But it's exceptional for Iowa.
It is out of a fund earmarked for tourism. If we used that money on jobs and housing we would have something to complain about.
 
Its out of 100 million that is supposed to drive tourism. Tell me a bigger driver of tourism in iowa right now than Field of Dreams.
The State Fair
Ragbrai
The Iowa "great" lakes
Hawkeye Athletics
Deer Hunting Season
NCAA tournament events
High School State Wrestling
The line at OP's Mom's house on 2fer Tuesdays
 
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It is out of a fund earmarked for tourism. If we used that money on jobs and housing we would have something to complain about.
I'm not complaining about it. I just thought it was funny you were pumped about Iowa tourism.
 
It is legitimately one of the few things we can promote to general tourists. I just hope we don't get greedy and try to build hotels in McGregor thinking we're going to draw people to Spook Cave. I think conservation (which hasn't been great recently) is the way to go for attracting outsiders to the state. Think we'd be more likely to get more outdoorsy travelers than families on vacation.
fieldofdreams-ifyoubuildit.gif
 
The State Fair
Ragbrai
The Iowa "great" lakes
Hawkeye Athletics
Deer Hunting Season
NCAA tournament events
High School State Wrestling
The line at OP's Mom's house on 2fer Tuesdays
Yeah, probably up to this point. Field of Dreams will certainly be climbing that list if they continue to build and grow like they have the last couple years. 2fer Tuesday will be hard to beat though.
 
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Maybe not exactly but it's pretty close. Almost interchangeable
"Tell me a dumber industry for Iowa to worry about" is interchangeable with "I just thought it was funny you were pumped about iowa tourism"? This is sarcasm this time isn't it?

Either way, I've been laid up with a broken foot all summer and I still don't have time for your nonsense. Have a great day.
 
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