The results from a survey that asked Mason City residents for information and their opinions on a possible multi-purpose center for downtown Mason City have been released. 1,746 responses to the survey were received. Above: A drawing of a redevelopment plan area for downtown Mason City that includes a multi-purpose arena.|The results from a survey that asked Mason City residents for information and their opinions on a possible multi-purpose center for downtown Mason City have been released. A multi-purpose center for downtown Mason City is currently being considered, and a task force of citizens is studying the idea. The task force will report to the Mayor and City Council this Spring.
1,746 responses to the survey were received. Citizens could respond to the survey through a hard copy paper that was available at City Hall and mailed out with city water bills or they could do the survey online.
There were seven multiple choice questions in the survey and an opportunity at the end to submit comments.
Respondents said that they were most likely to attend music concerts in a multi-purpose center, as well as a variety of other events like comedy shows, sporting events and tradeshows. “The types of potential uses is very broad,” Trout said.
Council member Don Nelson has been critical of the idea of a multi-purpose center, and has written several letters to the multi-purpose center task force saying so. Nelson said the comments on the survey responses are “extremely important.”
Trout said 939 respondents left comments on the idea of a multi-purpose center. The following are a few of the responses:
– “I am all for it!”
– “This would be a nice addition to the community.”
– “Fix infrastructure first.”
– “We do not need one as as we already have NIACC, Music Man Sq, Community Theatre, ice rink at fairgrounds.”
Jeff Marsters told NorthIowaToday.com “1,746 is a small number considering the great potential for multiple respondents. I personally know people who turned in multiple responses. I only continue to insist; if this moves forward that it is brought to a public vote.”
When the survey was first given to the public earlier this year, there were some glitches with the online submission of surveys. For a short period of time, people were able to submit more than one survey response. City Administrator Brent Trout addressed the concern, saying “We have changed the setting so you can only enter one survey from an IP address in the future.”
Council member Scott Tornquist had a concern with people from out of town submitting survey responses. Trout said that the database can be “manipulated to be able to see inputs from the Mason City people only.”
The task force will take the survey results into consideration as they prepare to make their presentation to the Mayor and City Council.
The area for a proposed redevelopment plan for downtown Mason City that includes a multi-purpose arena:
