King's Pointe continues to make waves for Storm Lake

"The receipts were some $100,000 higher than in 2010," said Mike Wilson, community development director in the Buena Vista County seat.

Receipts set a new mark in 2012, climbing yet another $100,000, to $1.15 million, fueled by record occupancy at King's Pointe, the signature element of the $40 million Project Awaysis on Storm Lake's northeast shore. The facility, which includes a 100-room motel, restaurant, indoor and outdoor water park, and cottages, now enters its seventh year.

Room occupancy rose from 58 percent in 2011 to 65 percent last year. Room revenue grew 13 percent, food and beverage sales climbed 7.5 percent. Total revenue? Up 8.5 percent.

"It was THE BEST 12-month period we've ever had," said Mike Wilson, Storm Lake's community development director.

That kind of activity on the lakeshore may have been the aim when Storm Lake leaders met more than a decade ago with Jeff Vonk, then director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Vonk challenged the Storm Lake contingent, asking locals that if they wanted state aid, they had to show a commitment to the lake itself. And, they had to raise money themselves.

Doing so could show Storm Lake as a destination for travelers.

The state ponied up as Project Awaysis took shape. Storm Lake received $9 million in the last of the Vision Iowa grants. It helped construct an indoor/outdoor water park. The outdoor park alone was used by 56,000 guests last summer.

it is tough to walk -- or slide, or swim -- at this site and remember the old Storm Lake Municipal Swimming Pool, a structured razed to make way for the water park. It would have taken years -- maybe decades -- for 56,000 users to splash their way around the old pool.

The water park stands next to a 100-room hotel with its Regatta Grille restaurant and conference center. A renovated Sunrise Pointe golf course is just across the road, as are four cottages that have proven popular destinations for visitors.

Some $250,000 was collected in 2010 through the city's hotel/motel tax, a boost at that time of 10 percent. Prior to King's Pointe, that same tax collection came to $120,000 annually. It is now nearly 10 times that amount.

As use and user tax collections grow, so does Storm Lake. School officials are currently working on a $17-million expansion at Storm Lake High School. Since King's Pointe opened, Storm Lake has built a new elementary school across town. Buena Vista Regional Medical Center has undergone at least one expansion in that time. Fareway constructed a new store, as did Hy-Vee. Buena Vista University remodeled two dormitories and its outdoor athletics complex.

"There's maybe one empty storefront on Lake Avenue," Wilson said of the main retail corridor downtown. "Our employers are hiring."

Several have seen employment gains beyond 10 percent the past several years while the United States wobbles through a recession.

Embracing the water, Wilson said, gave Storm Lakers a sense their glass was half-full. This isn't a town, after all, that boasted about much 10 to 15 years ago. King's Pointe has become the community's calling card, a way to invite guests for a weekend on these sandy shores.

"King's Pointe was the key thing in changing the image of this community," said Wilson, who noted a $3.5 million bond to help fund the effort passed by more than 70 percent. "Thinking back to 2003 when we tried to get this organized, I think Storm Lakers wanted something that could help them feel better about their town."