WAUKEE, Iowa — New developments in Waukee are a dime a dozen, but one on the eastern border is going to be a special place for a long time to come.

“We wanted it to have an old-school look to it,” says developer Blake Jensen, of the gigantic Kettlestone Central Sports Complex. “The brick looks a little like classic basketball arenas like State Gym in Ames.”

Developers put the finishing touches on the Complex Thursday.

It immediately becomes the largest basketball facility in all of Iowa, and one of the largest in the Midwest. It has 12 full-size, high school basketball courts between its two 70,000-square-foot buildings.

“Twelve is a good number to host large events,” says Jensen. “It fits about 120-150 teams on a given weekend.”

It can also quickly shift into a volleyball facility with 18 courts.

Its sunken floor is stunning but also functional — it intentionally separates the parents from the games and officials.

“The last thing we want to do is be on the news with a fight or an altercation,” Jensen explains. ”That’s why we have security at the front door and that’s why we have this bowl.”

It becomes the new home of the All-Iowa Attack Basketball Club, which lists stars like Caitlin Clark, Harrison Barnes, and Drake’s Katie Dinnebier among its alumni. The hope is the facility will make the lives of the 90 teams worth of Attack players and others who use it a little better.

“It’s always better for our families and these Iowa programs to stay closer to home,” Jensen says. “It’s less time they have to travel to Kansas City or to Omaha and spend the money doing that so we try to do as much as we can locally to also save money for all those families … both in our program and other programs to have a place that they can come play during the day and then go sleep in their own beds at night.”

The facility is expected to host tournaments on about 45 weekends a year, bringing some $125 million to the area.

This summer they’ll host a number of free basketball camps in conjunction with the Waukee Parks and Rec Department. The city will get frequent use of the facility year-round.

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