Idaho Falls

2 IDAHO FALLS MAGAZINE  FEBRUARY 2020 In 2011, the Idaho Falls community elected to create an auditorium dis- trict 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. However, 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 oppor- tunity to do something that's never been done before. It isn't very often in a career that you get the opportunity to be involved in a project that's never been done before. To see that come to fruition will be very rewarding for sure. There's so much poten- tial for this community and I think this Event Center is it's a huge thing from an economic development and entertainment viewpoint. IFM: Where is all of the money for the event center coming from? RS: The funding is coming from primary sources; Transient Room Tax revenues and fundraising. There's this huge mispercep- tion that people believe that room tax revenues are coming from property tax or personal income tax, it's not. Room tax rev- enues are collected when a person stays in a hotel or an Airbnb within the city limits. The Idaho Falls Auditorium District aligns with the city. A person who is staying over- night 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 com- ing 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. A junior hockey team will be the anchor tenant. The association with hockey will enhance the hockey and ice-skating pro- grams in this community. Right now, there just isn't enough ice space for the com- munity and this facility will help solve that problem. Currently there is only one sheet of ice in town. We want to help the com- munity. We want to be the ones that help promote youth hockey and adult hockey and public skating. Status of the Idaho Falls Auditorium District Exclusive Q&A with Rob Spear "I want to see this 5 or 6-year old child and the look in their eyes as they watch [Disney on Ice] in their hometown." SPECIAL SECTION | East Idaho Business BY EMILY FITZPATRICK STEVE SMEDE PHOTO

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