A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently for a 3,500-seat multipurpose arena that will be the new home of the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team. The arena will located in a building that had housed the now defunct Younkers department store at Merle Hay Mall, 3800 Merle Hay Road. From left are Urbandale Mayor Bob Andeweg, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, Polk County Supervisor Robert Brownell, Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly, Michael Devlin, a managing partner in the Buc’s ownership team, and mall owner Elizabeth Holland. Photo by Eric Woolson

A groundbreaking ceremony was held May 18 for the 3,500-seat arena that will be the new home of the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team. The facility will be located inside the structure that once housed Younkers department store at Merle Hay Mall, 3800 Merle Hay Road. The facility will have a total of four sheets of ice for competition, training and recreation. A training center with weight rooms, locker rooms, offices and classrooms would also be located on the west side of the mall. “The Buccaneers have been part of this community for over 40 years, all playing in Urbandale,” said Michael Devlin, a managing partner in the Buccaneers’ ownership team. “We navigated the pandemic, we survived the derecho but realized that we were no longer going to be able to stay on Hickman Road. It took a lot of effort, a lot of searching, and it was amazing the road we found was about a mile away and remains in Urbandale.” Other improvements to the mall, which straddles the boundaries of Urbandale and Des Moines, include construction of a 150-room hotel and the relocation of Kohl’s department from the west side of the mall to the east side. In all, nearly $139 million in improvements are planned at the site.

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