With Hilton dry, a difficult clean up begins

AMES – Clean-up crews have rid Hilton Coliseum of storm water.

Now is when the real work begins dressing up the flood-ravaged arena on Iowa State's campus.

Cleaners from far and wide were called in to lend a hand as water eight to 10 feet high filled the floor of the building while water surrounded it after torrential rains early last week. Dozens of trucks and vans on Monday covered the muddied parking lots outside Hilton and the surrounding buildings that make up the Iowa State Center.

“They are doing a phenomenal job,” said Steve Malchow, ISU athletics director for communications. “They are professional dealing with crises like this. They are inventorying, cleaning and getting a feel for what is salvageable.”

Officials continue trying to assess the damage from the historic flood.

Malchow said the cost to the athletic department won't be known for some time.

Possible damage to electrical, mechanical and telephone operations inside Hilton have hindered some efforts in moving forward there.

“The integrity of the building is still in question,” Malchow said. “That will come in the coming days. That's put a real road block on assessing the damages.”

Workers have only been cleaning on the second level thus far, which covers mainly offices, concession areas and the volleyball team's new offices that were under construction.

Progress there has been ruined.

They same surely is the case for most everything on the ground floor. The basketball flooring and a couple levels of seating that were submerged will need replaced, Malchow said.

“We haven't even been down the locker rooms and the basement yet,” Malchow said. “That's going to take time.”

The nearby Skunk River and Squaw Creek overflowed last Wednesday morning, and caused water-main breaks that contaminated tap water in Ames.

Residents were urged to boil water before drinking it. On Sunday, officials declared it safe from bacteria and ready for daily use.

The wreckage at Hilton is just one piece to ISU's athletics clean-up effort.

Flooding at ISU's soccer complex has caused a disruption to the team's schedule.

The Cyclones' season opener against Drake on Friday has been moved from Ames to Ankeny's Prairie Ridge Sports Complex. They aren't scheduled to play at home again until a Sept. 17 match with Iowa, which may be enough time to get the fields in playing shape.

The team is practicing at the Bergstrom Indoor Facility right now.

ISU's volleyball team also has some issues on the horizon.

It has home matches set for Sept. 3-4, Sept. 8 and a nationally-televised Big 12 Conference meeting with Nebraska on Sept.15.

It's hard to imagine Hilton being clean and ready by that time.

The coaches' offices have moved into the Sukup basketball facility on the west side of town and the team is practicing in a nearby facility owned by local developer Dickson Jensen.

The first football game of the year will go on as scheduled on Sept. 2 against Northern Illinois.

Jack Trice Stadium was not affected by flood waters, though the practice fields the Cyclones use were underwater. They have split practice time indoors and on the field used during the regular season.

Parking still could be an issue for that game, particularly on the grass fields surrounding the stadium which are still waterlogged and brown instead of green.