Some Ames and Iowa State officials argued last spring that unless the city increased its hotel/motel tax by 2 percent to pay for more seats in Hilton Coliseum, big acts no longer would play at that venue.

Ames voters defeated the increase in an April 27 election, and the only additions scheduled for Hilton include required updates to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

The changes to Hilton will correct fire safety deficiencies, expand the concourse and provide ADA accessibility to the main floor of Hilton, said Murray Blackwelder, vice president for External Affairs.

“The building opened in 1971, so you can imagine that in [28] years the fire safety and the ADA guidelines have changed immensely,” Blackwelder said.

The additions also will nearly double the number of women’s restrooms available to eliminate overcrowding.

“That’s also changed in [28] years,” Blackwelder said. “There are a lot more women going to sporting events now.”

Mark North, director of the Iowa State Center, said an architect has been chosen, and the next step is to get approval from the Board of Regents. He said the proposal will be brought before the regents at its November meeting, and construction should start in the spring.

“We’re excited about what’s going to happen,” Blackwelder said. “It will make Hilton more accessible for everyone.”

However, Blackwelder said the changes will not make the building more desirable for big-name acts such as the Backstreet Boys, who will be performing in Iowa City this fall rather than at Hilton.

“The promoters were looking for venues of 16,000 or more,” Blackwelder said.

North said 16,000 is the magical number for seating because that’s the size of venue that Des Moines officials have talked about building.

Blackwelder said this trend of losing big-name concerts has been going on for a while.

“It’s something that we started to see was happening, and it is currently happening and will continue to happen,” he said. “We didn’t just start losing concerts.”

However, North said Ames still has many attractions for entertainers.

Blackwelder said Ames still will get a lot of concerts, just not big names such as the Backstreet Boys.

“We want the top stars, and the big-name stars are usually just appearing at the bigger venues,” Blackwelder said.

“To them it’s just a money deal,” he said. “They know they’re going to sell out, so they sell out for the biggest amount they can.”