Idaho Center expansion under way

Addition will add horse competition, track events
Idaho Press-Tribune staff

NAMPA — This fall, Nampa will be home to even more sports excitement with the addition of a sports arena near the Idaho Center.

The Sports Center — a rectangular, 100,000-square-foot building — will serve as the venue for indoor track-and-field meets and become home to the Idaho Cutting Horse Association. Numerous other events, many of them equestrian-related, will be held in the new center as well.

The $2.2 million sports arena is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 1. The expansion will be financed by a ticket surcharge on events held at the Idaho Center.

Visitors center considered for arena complex
NAMPA — Community leaders want to add a two-story glass-enclosed visitor’s center to the front entrance of the Idaho Center arena north of Interstate 84.
“There is no other place out there (like the Idaho Center) to show off what we have in the rest of Nampa,” said Tami Shoemaker, a downtown business owner who would also like to see shuttle buses operate between the Idaho Center and other Nampa locations.
Shoemaker said it may be possible to get contributions from the business community to help build the center.
It will join the Idaho Center’s indoor arena and outdoor amphitheater that already draw a vast array of concerts, trade shows and meetings to Canyon County.

The Idaho Cutting Horse Association is scheduled to hold its state competition. The association will also relocate to Nampa from its former home in the Sun Valley area. Organizers expect the event to pump $875,000 to $1 million into the local economy.

In the winter months, the sports center will be home for Boise State University’s indoor track-and-field team.

BSU Track Coach Mike Maynard predicted up to 10 track meets might be held between November 2002 and March 2003, with an estimated economic influx of close to $2 million.

The Western Athletic Conference, of which BSU is a part, will hold its conference championships at the Nampa center in early 2003.

During track meets, the same end-zone bleachers used at Bronco Stadium in Boise during football season will be set up at the Sports Center. Rod Orrison, Idaho Center director, said the 200-meter indoor banked track to be housed at the Sports Center will be unique in the region.

This guide was produced by the Idaho Press-Tribune news staff. For questions or suggestions, call Assistant Managing Editor David Woolsey at 465-8112 or e-mail newsroom@idahopress.com.