Debi Durham was skeptical about a reworked plan to build a hockey arena at Merle Hay Mall.

Heading into an early November meeting with the mall's CEO, Liz Holland, Durham, the Iowa Economic Development Authority director, knew all about the project's troubled history.

The meeting was almost four years to the day after the IEDA board had announced $26.5 million in state tax rebates to help fund the project. That was the largest single share from a round of $100 million in competitive Iowa Reinvestment Act funding.

But the hockey team that was supposed to build and own the arena in the shell of an empty department store had failed to get financing. After the mall took over the project, the team backed out altogether.

Deadlines went unmet and by 2025, some Merle Hay tenants were get

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