City's status-quo steam plans for U.S. Cellular Center, hotel fall apart

The city looks like it's in a bit of a pickle in providing heat this winter to the U.S. Cellular Center and the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel.

According to a memo to the City Council in preparation for the council's Wednesday evening meeting, Pat Ball, the city's utilities director, notes that the city had expected going into this winter to keep the arena and hotel on Alliant Energy's temporary and expensive steam-heat system, which the utility put in place after its Sixth Street Generating Plant was destroyed in the June 2008 flood.

However, a portion of the steam system to the arena and hotel has “failed” in the last few weeks, Ball reports in his memo.

He now proposed to work to build a temporary steam system for the center and hotel. The new system involves installing a natural gas line, which will be used for the permanent replacement system, which had been expected to be installed in April. The city also proposes to contract for boiler rental, installation and daily operation and maintenance, Ball says in his memo.

The city's own temporary operation will cost less than the more than $1 million that it would have cost with Alliant's temporary arrangement, Ball states.

He notes that all customers of Alliant's downtown system have been converting to individual heating systems.