City awards master-plan contract for rodeo arena; steering committee, engineers to guide design

The Oakley City Council voted to award master-plan services for the rodeo arena complex to Naylor Wentworth Architects and authorized the city’s selected owner’s representative, Big D / BDK, to manage the planning process.

Council members emphasized that the agreement is for a master plan only; the architect will not be designing improvements until the council approves a later design contract. “This is just to award it's not awarding the design of any improvements. This is strictly to go about the master plan process,” said Chris, a representative of BDK, during a presentation to the council.

Nut graf: Council approved the award and discussed a compressed schedule intended to deliver a master-plan document this fall so the city can prioritize improvements and, if funding allows, begin work after next year’s rodeo. Consultants said the plan will include civil and electrical engineering input, a likely site survey, and a pro forma cost analysis to assist prioritization.

BDK and the architect team described data collection completed during the rodeo week, including time-lapse observations of parking and pedestrian flows and interviews with vendors, the rodeo committee and public safety staff. The consultants proposed forming a steering committee to synthesize feedback and guide the architect’s scope. Council members named several likely steering-committee participants, including city staff, rodeo committee members, sheriff’s department representatives, vendors, volunteers and at least one lay member of the public, Rob Moore, who volunteered during the meeting.

Consultants stressed infrastructure priorities during planning. “The infrastructure piece … civil engineering, electrical engineering” will be critical, one consultant said, adding that the arena currently runs on single-phase power and relies on large diesel generators; moving to more permanent electrical infrastructure could improve operations and reduce on-site generators. Consultants also recommended a recent site survey for accurate topography and relationships between parcels, and said estimators would later provide cost ranges to help the council decide which improvements to pursue now and which to defer.

The council discussed a proposed schedule that consultants described as “very aggressive”: the architect team aims to complete the master-plan document this fall so design and phased improvements could begin next year. Consultants offered to provide a pro forma cost listing (example: seats added, electrical upgrades, stormwater work) tied to estimated revenue impacts to help council decision-making.

Votes and formal action: A council member moved to award the project to Naylor Wentworth Architects; a second was recorded and the motion passed by voice vote. City staff said the negotiated contract for design services would be returned to council for formal approval if the council chooses to continue with Naylor Wentworth for later design work.

Ending: Council directed staff and the consultants to form a steering committee, complete outstanding interviews with the rodeo committee and public safety agencies, and return with a finalized scope and timeline. Council members asked staff to factor emergency management and spectator ingress/egress into the planning process.