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Council discusses moving rodeo to equestrian center; raises seating, safety and cost questions
Summary
Council members weighed a proposal to move the Proside Rodeo to the Peterson Equinox equestrian center, focusing on seating capacity, salvage of existing bleachers, a $200,000 budget line for 1,000 seats and a planned site tour before a final decision.
Council members spent significant time Sept. 30 weighing a proposal to relocate the Proside Rodeo from the existing rodeo arena to the Peterson Equinox equestrian center.
Jack, a presenter for the facilities team, described seating plans the equestrian site could support: "we can have 1000 seats permanent, and we've got another 6 or 700 in the mobile, in the portable ones," he said, noting the site could be expanded over time. Council members questioned whether existing bleachers could be salvaged and how to cover gaps in seating. One council member said the current project budget includes $200,000 allotted for 1,000 new seats as part of a roughly $600,000 development phase.
Council members and staff debated the costs and logistics of moving portable bleachers versus buying new ones. A staff member noted that moving older bleachers could be expensive and that mixing brand-new and heavily used sections could appear "trashy," while others pointed out the benefit of growing seating capacity incrementally. The meeting record also includes differing cost and quantity figures discussed on the floor: staff said the current phase had spent about $374,000 and a $200,000 line would bring the total to approximately $574,000 including contingencies.
Safety and operational concerns at the existing arena were a recurring theme. Speakers described the older arena as tight and potentially hazardous for horses and trailers and said the new site would provide more room for livestock movement and event flow. Council members emphasized the value of a trial event: the high school rodeo scheduled for Oct. 16 was cited as an opportunity to test layouts and logistics.
Members agreed to arrange a site tour and a focused work session so the full council and staff could inspect both the current arena and the proposed equestrian site before making a formal decision. The council did not take a final vote at this meeting; members said they would reconvene after the tour to consider next steps.
