Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Conservation and Recreation Division

For Immediate Release                                                        
     June 21, 2007

HONEY CREEK RESORT PROJECT MOVES CLOSER TO REALITY

DES MOINES — A single bid of $19.1 million was received Thursday from Hansen 
Construction, Inc. of Johnston for construction of a resort complex at Honey 
Creek State Park on Lake Rathbun in Appanoose County.

Also received was a low bid of $4,224,000 by Vieco Development and 
Construction, Inc. of St. Joseph, Mo., for the construction of 28 cabins. 
Two bids were submitted for this portion of the project. The engineers 
estimate for this project was $4.19 million.

Both bids will now be analyzed prior to consideration of final approval by 
the Natural Resources Commission at a special meeting on June 28th.

The bid for the 108-room hotel-convention and water park complex comes in 
higher than the engineer’s estimate of approximately $18.3 million, but 
considerably closer than the first round of bidding in March. At that time, 
the $24 million bid by Hansen was 80 percent higher than the original 
engineer’s estimate of $13.5 million.

After reworking the original estimates and design, Thursday’s bid of $19.1 
million was within 5 percent of the new engineer’s estimate of $18.3 
million.

While disappointed with not receiving more bids, Terry Montgomery, 
administrator for the Honey Creek Project, said the project has moved 
significantly closer to the financial target.

“The fact of the matter is, we’re within a more comfortable range right now 
than we were in March. We are in a position now, before we go to the 
commission next week, to analyze an actual proposal from a contractor to see 
if there are other additional cost savings and to investigate other 
potential revenue sources,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery is no stranger to orchestrating financing solutions to 
large-scale projects after having been a key player in the development of 
the successful $62 million Science Center of Iowa project.

“We have created a strong team at the local, state and federal levels that 
is committed to a project that will best serve the citizens of Iowa, 
regional economy and bolster an already outstanding state park system,” said 
Montgomery.

Montgomery said the next week will be spent analyzing the latest 
construction proposal.

“We have a lot of options we can look at anytime we have a project of this 
size and we’re fortunate to have the right players in place to ensure that 
the best possible option is ultimately selected,” Montgomery said.

The 108-room lodge, conference center, indoor aquatic center, 18-hole golf 
course and 28 family and group cabins are all components to the overall 
plans for the resort. In addition, the normal array of state park facilities 
will be provided: semi-enclosed picnic shelters, paved multi-purpose trails, 
hiking/nature trails, boat ramp, boat-docking facilities, and an upscale RV 
campground. These facilities will be located on an 850-acre tract of land on 
the north shore of Rathbun Lake.
The existing Honey Creek State Park (an additional 850 acres) lies across 
the bay, and future development plans include a pedestrian trail bridge to 
link the two parcels.

The principle financing source for the project is $28 million in bond 
proceeds that will be paid off over a 30-year period with revenues generated 
by the resort. Rathbun Regional Water, Chariton Valley Electrical 
Cooperative and Iowa Telecom will contribute more than $2 million in utility 
systems. Appanoose and Monroe counties, Rathbun Lake Resort, Inc. and 
private contributors have provided more than $2 million in cash advances to 
be repaid from hotel/motel tax receipts.

Additional information on the Honey Creek Resort State Park project can be 
found at http://www.iowadnr.com/parks/honeycreek/index.html

For more information, contact Kevin Baskins at 515-249-2814.

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