The city contends that MandM LLC has violated the terms of the agreement it has with the local government.

Matt Johnson, spokesman for MandM LLC, said the company has resolved “everything we possibly could and in our view the matter is already settled.”

Both sides appeared to be bracing for a court fight Monday.

City Manager David Fierke said local officials will be consulting with Dorsey and Whitney, the Des Moines law firm that has been representing the city on the sports pavilion issue.

“We will probably have a court action,” Fierke said.

Johnson said his next move would be to file a lawsuit against the city, but he has not done that because he believed his attorneys and the city’s attorneys were working out a resolution.

“A big legal fight is the last thing I ever wanted out of this deal,” he said.

“It’s very sad that this already controversial situation has gotten this messy, and it seems to just keep getting worse,” Johnson said. “This is yet another example of why I firmly believe the city should not be in charge of the property.”

Roots of the situation

The sports pavilion is a 51,000-square-foot building on the west side of Corridor Plaza, close to South 25th Street.

MandM LLC, which has two similar facilities in Iowa, proposed the Fort Dodge version. Local officials looking for something in addition to shopping to draw people to Corridor Plaza embraced the plan.

But the company had trouble financing the project.

City Council members said they didn’t want to see the project fail, and intervened. It was not a popular decision, and it sparked several stormy council meetings as critics savaged the idea of city help for the pavilion.

But in January 2025, the council bought the building from 3 & 1 LLC for $10.1 million.

Then in April 2025, the council sold it back to MandM LLC for $12.1 million. The sale was structured so that payments from that company would pay off the debt the city incurred to buy it.

This spring, MandM LLC went through a transition in which the original leaders from Ankeny were replaced by local people led by Johnson.

Right after the company announced that transition, the city filed a notice of forfeiture of real estate contract against it.

In that notice, attorneys for the city wrote that the company is in default on its contract for these reasons:

• It failed to pay any money to the city.

• It has not provided complete monthly financial information required by the contract.

• It has not deposited any revenue from the pavilion into the required account.

• Money was used for purposes not allowed under the contract instead of making payments to the city.

The notice of forfeiture gave the company 30 days to come into compliance with the terms of the real estate contract.

What happened Monday

The 30 days provided in the notice of forfeiture ended Monday.

A media release issued by the city Monday afternoon states, “As of today, MandM LLC remains in violation of the terms of its agreement with the city.”

That release also states that local officials “went to the pavilion today to take the necessary steps to address the ongoing default and ensure the continued operation of the facility. Arrangements had already been made to allow business to continue as usual so that facility users, guests and scheduled events would experience a seamless transition from MandM LLC to the city.”

City Recreation Department employees were already scheduled to begin working in the sports pavilion.

Fierke and Assistant City Manager Ryan Maehl went to the pavilion to inform the staff there that the local government was taking over the site.

According to Fierke, a staffer in the building called Johnson, who was in Des Moines. He said that Johnson refused to voluntarily turn over control of the building to the city. He said Johnson requested that the city get a court order if it wanted to take over the building.

“Today during Kids Play Free Day with about 100 kids playing inside, the city manager and assistant city manager showed up at the Courtplex property demanding that we hand over the keys, they’re changing the locks and that our staff need to leave and the city will be taking over the property as of tonight,” Johnson said.

“A locksmith showed up at the Courtplex property a little later saying that they were hired by the city to change all the locks at the property, but then got a call back saying never mind so they were just as confused as everyone else seems to be,” he added.

Fierke and Maehl left the pavilion without asserting control over the site.

Both sides in the dispute are now consulting their attorneys.

“At this time, the city’s focus remains on minimizing disruption for facility users and guests,” the city’s media release states. “The city understands there may be questions and speculation surrounding this matter. We encourage the public to rely on official information from the city as this process moves forward.”

Johnson replied, “I personally found that very funny. There’s something about ‘trust us, we’re the government’ that I don’t think resonates very true in today’s world. My opinion is that this is still America, and I think the city government should have to follow due process and abide by the law, especially since they turned to the law to solve this for them in the first place.”