![Teacher Academy students from Ankeny Centennial, juniors Parker Wilson, Tony Mandolfo, and Sophia Royster develop their lesson plans that will be presented to the class. “[Teacher Academy students are] getting the experience of actually seeing if this is a career. They're getting that time in the classroom,” Teacher Academy and science teacher Kristen Campbell-Blumhagen (CB) said.](https://ahstalonnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/centennialstudents-1200x683.png)
After closing down for roughly two years, the Val Air Ballroom located in Des Moines, Iowa is back in business. On Feb. 25, the ballroom hosted their reopening which gathered people from all around Iowa to see the changes that were made.
At the grand opening there was an attempt to break a world record for the number of amps played all at once. The Iowa musician, Jon Locker, played his guitar through 81 amps for five whole minutes and ended up breaking the world record which was a fun event and helped draw attention to the reopening of the venue.
The ballroom has spent around $1.9 million to repair and restore the venue. With this, the ballroom has added another stage and restored the entire building while keeping the same historical feel that the venue has always had.
The Ballroom is a historical establishment in Des Moines that opened in 1938. The venue was originally used for outdoor shows but was later enclosed and made an indoor ballroom. With this, the venue attracted music lovers from all around the area.
The ballroom has hosted various artists and bands such as Bright Eyes, Paramore, Korn, and others. With this, many other artists will be performing there in 2024 such as Gregory Alan Isakov, Sierra Ferrell, and Eli Young Band.
Due to the reopening of the venue, more traveling artists are expected to perform in Iowa because of more accessibility to the venue for people to perform. With this Des Moines could help host more artists so the city can have more entertainment.
The reopening and remodeling of the Val Air Ballroom is extremely smart because it will help draw attention to different artists who are going on tour. Not only this, but music lovers around Iowa are back to having a place to go to have fun with their friends and families.
Overall, I think the remodel of the venue looks extremely nice and was very well done. I thought that the ballroom still had the classic and loved feel that attracted many people originally.
I hope that the venue will continue to be a space where music lovers can gather to experience new music in a new environment. With the various artists who are coming to the ballroom, I will for sure be stopping by more often to experience the new venue in its entirety.
I recommend stopping by or getting tickets to a show if you are someone who loves music and wants to have a night out!
