August brought dramatic amounts of rainfall to the Ames area, resulting in flooding and damages.

The residents of Ash Avenue are worried that may happen again, particularly if the proposed Cyclone Sports Complex does not address the current drainage situation of the area.

In August, the green space east of the Towers residence halls, already saturated with rainfall, spilled water over Ash Avenue and into yards and homes of residents along the street. The university and ISU athletics department want to construct the facility — that would house the ISU soccer, softball and track teams — on that space, and are working with the city of Ames to try and improve drainage in the area.

“That’s what they don’t want to see get worse,” said John Joiner, director of Ames Public Works. “And they want to see, since they’re starting from scratch in this area, what can be done to make it better.”

Joiner said the university did not have to work with the city on this project, and could have installed a plan to manage the water independently.

However, Warren Madden, vice president of business and finance, said the university is working to meet city and Department of Natural Resources standards for both storm sewer and sanitary sewer management at the site.

“The city standards and the DNR standards sort of lead you down a path that we’re hoping, if this project proceeds, will actually do a better job of managing the water on that site,” Madden said.

Original plans for the complex, first revealed in December, brought concerns from the community about drainage and flooding. Revised plans released by the university on Tuesday feature an area for “floodwater detention,” illustrating the university’s addressing of the situation.

Flooding is the major reason the ISU soccer team will move to the new facility after its current home, east of Lied Recreation Athletic Center, flooded in August. The ISU soccer complex resides in the flood plain north of Maple-Willow-Larch halls, ruling that location out for the new complex.

Joiner said the city has compiled a list of sites throughout the city where it would like to improve drainage situations, particularly after last summer’s flood.

The city is working with that list to apply for mitigation grant money from the state of Iowa to address any current or potential problems around the city.

Prior to plans for the complex being released in December, the city had no set plans to address the Ash Avenue drainage situation.

For the city, the complex arrives as a chance to improve the drainage situation along Ash Avenue.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good opportunity,” Joiner said. “We would have approached Iowa State to see what we could have done to make that situation better. Regardless, it just so happened that the athletics fields were coming up at the same time. It just happened to be a convenience and a coincidence.”

Ames community members will have the chance to talk with officials about the revised plans Tuesday at a public meeting. The meeting will be held at the Knapp-Storms Dining Center and starts at 7 p.m.