New Pocatello event center set to open in December

Pocatello’s new Mountain View Event Center is under construction and is expected to open later this year.

The MEC will be the result of a five-year project. As a multipurpose facility it will have three full-size basketball courts and 6 volleyball nets and will be able to host dance competitions and trade shows. The location is prime one in Pocatello.

“This seemed to work out great for everyone. It’s close to hotels, it has great freeway access, the building itself is almost an acre in size. There really isn’t anything like this around,” said MEC architect Ted Booth.

The MEC is being financed by Grace Lutheran Church.

“That’s what Grace Lutheran was able to do, was come in fund and finance and construct the project for lease back to the auditorium district,” said Bannock Development Corp. executive director John Regetz.

In addition to the church, there is a tourism tax, and the construction companies that are working on the MEC are all local.

“It will be local workers who are getting paid to actually construct the facility. So that $6 million for the most part is staying in the community — there’s not much leak. And, of course as I mentioned, that circulates in the community. That gets spent in stores and in restaurants,” said Regetz.

Even after the MEC is built, the auditorium district expects the economic impact to be great because it will generate more revenue to the Pocatello area.

“The impact will be when people come to tournaments here — for their children to participate, or for them to participate or spectate at. They will spend dollars in the community. They’ll be dining, they’ll be staying in a hotel, they’ll be engaging in other types of recreation. What that means is those dollars get spent here,” said Regetz.

The MEC already has a couple of reservations set. The Pocatello-Chubbuck Auditorium District hopes that it will be open by Dec. 1.