Bid for national finals on hold pending arena upgrades

News item out of Abilene this week: the National High School Rodeo Association has been informed that Farmington, N.M. has withdrawn as one of the three designated host cities for the annual national finals rodeo.
A report in Monday’s Abilene Reporter-News, where the Texas state rodeo finals are underway, notes that Gonzales is expected to be bidding to host the national junior high finals, and the hint was there the city would also put in a bid on the high-school finals as well.
That speculation is all on hold at the moment, Gonzales City Manager David Huseman says, because the city hasn’t made a commitment to improvements needed to J.B. Wells Park to meet the criteria.
“That would be a City Council decision,” Huseman said. “At this point we’re not bidding on either the high school or the junior high finals since we don’t have a commitment to the improvements.”
When Huseman presented a master plan for upgrades to the park recently, a motion to approve that plan died for lack of a second. While the idea of expansion isn’t dead, council members balked at the $5 million pricetag for a number of reasons.
Foremost among those reasons remain questions about accountability and transparency. There are a lot of folks in the community who openly question whether or not the city benefits economically from events held there. Questions such as why the city isn’t raking in money on concessions remain unanswered as well.
There are also those who wonder why we’re expanding these facilities while more pressing needs for city residents -- such as restrooms at Independence Park and other recreational facilities with more immediate impact -- aren’t being addressed.
There’s a lot of prestige gained from hosting a state or national championship event -- such as the recent state junior high rodeo finals hosted here. By all accounts, the participants were tickled with both Wells and with the hospitality shown by the city.
I think expansion of the arena would be a smart move by the city -- I’m a firm believer that if you build it, they will come.
But I also think it’s important the city reach out to the doubters with answers. If the food and other concessions make money, show us how much; if not, explain why not. Show the benefit of not charging for recreational vehicle hookups -- I’m told there were five 7,000-gallon pools filled during the junior high finals.
It’s the taxpayers of Gonzales who are being asked to pay for this expansion; they need to buy into it and to do that, we have to show them the value.