The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Association announced the Girls State Soccer Tournament would be moving from Muscatine to Des Moines. For the city that means a loss in revenue, especially at hotels and restaurants. However, the city is hoping to win the tournament back by expanding the soccer complex.
"We've got a great facility. I think you would be hard pressed to find any facilities that match the quality and the level of playability," says Muscatine City Administrator Gregg Mandsager.
The Muscatine Soccer Complex has been home to the Girls State Soccer Tournament for 15-years.
"It is disappointing to see that everything seems to be moving centrally to Des Moines," says Mandsager, "I hope that regions around Iowa can still maintain their fair share of these prestigious activities."
Attracting those prestigious activities means expanding the complex.
"We've had a lot of good feed back over the years," adds Mandsager, "We had a lot of good feedback this year."
The city wants to add 4 synthetic fields to eight field complex. The $4.5-million to $5-million project also includes more than two hundred parking spaces. The plan has been in the works for awhile, but the city wants to use it to win back the soccer tournament.
"Hopefully, by then we'll have made some additional improvements to our facilities and hopefully work to bring in some additional hotels," says Mandsager.
Hotels are one of the reasons why the association voted to move the tournament to Des Moines. The director of the girls athletic association says while there are several hotels in Muscatine, there isn't enough and people have to stay in Davenport and Iowa City.
The other reasons for the move from Muscatine to Des Moines are the association wants a more centralized location and they took into account financial costs, such as gas and expenses. The director says Muscatine has a great complex and it will be considered in 3-years when the contract with Des Moines ends.
