The Longview area could be home to a new professional rodeo arena.
Foothills County gave first reading to a land-use bylaw on April 7 to permit rodeo activities on a site on the west side of Highway 22 south of 546 Ave. W, about 1.5 kilometres north of Longview.
The site is on John Scott’s land, and rodeo events and activities would be run by Alpha Bull, which is owned and operated by two-time Canadian bull riding champ Chad Besplug.
“We’re trying to hold an educational facility there, for different rodeo events and different horse events, to train people along with the professional rodeo events we would like to hold as well,” said Scott during a public hearing.
Besplug said Scott offered a unique opportunity with the land, which would allow Alpha Bull to run events close to home. The Claresholm native hosts events throughout western Canada but has been looking for ways to highlight western culture in the Foothills.
“We’ve had dreams of building our own facility that we could have professional-level bull riding and roughstock-type events, but also a place we could put on clinics, do practice nights and mentor young rodeo people who live in this area,” he said. “The vision is to preserve this part of the culture and this way of life and to show it to other people.”
Realizing that vision includes building an outdoor arena he said would complement its surroundings and could accommodate up to 2,000 spectators for the four major one-day events Alpha Bull intends to run, including a Zeke Thurston Invitational in bronc riding, a Ty Pozzobon Invitational in bull riding and a Lindsay Sears Invitational in barrel racing.
There would also be up to 10 smaller-scale private rodeo events throughout the season, with about 50 to 200 people in attendance, he said.
“We want to showcase our world-class competitions right here in the Foothills,” said Besplug. “We believe it will be quite a draw locally.
“Our goals for the John Scott Arena are to provide economic opportunity for the village of Longview and the Foothills.”
The company ran some private events last year on the same site and learned Longview is a bustling village with tourism opportunities. The rodeo grounds would attract more people to the community, he said.
Local youth and adults involved in rodeo would also have a place to practice, he said, and there could be openings for 4-H groups or other users to take advantage of the facility.
“We really see this place as being kind of a cultural hub in the area,” said Besplug.
However, there’s some work to be done before the facility gets up and running – including hashing things out with their immediate neighbours, who were caught off-guard by the application for the redesignation and expressed some concerns at the public hearing.
Gary McGonigle and his wife and young son live immediately adjacent to the property, and he said based on what they saw with small events last summer, they’re worried about lights, noise and traffic. They were also concerned about the site plan, which would have placed portable washrooms at their property line.
“We are right next to the arena, so the noise concerns are a big thing for us and our family,” said McGonigle, adding that proposed evening shows running from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. would cause distress.
He also shares highway access with the proposed rodeo grounds and said there could be safety concerns with the particular entrance on the site plan, which would have people turning off of or onto a busy highway with a hill to the north that impedes sightlines.
“Living and driving in and out of that approach on a daily basis, you have to be very aware when you turn north off the highway,” said McGonigle.
He said changing the access point into the site could help alleviate some of the traffic safety concerns, in addition to the professional traffic control flag people on event days, as promised by Scott and Besplug.
Despite those concerns he said he was appreciative of the work undertaken to-date to try to accommodate the neighbours.
“We want to work together with everybody too, and hopefully some things we can work together and make something happen,” said McGonigle.
Scott said he is more than willing to sit down with the three neighbours in the immediate vicinity and discuss their wishes and requirements as the development permit application is completed.
There are a few things that could be done to mitigate their concerns, including building berms around the site to contain noise, moving the location of the portable washrooms and potentially changing the access point, he said.
“These are just options I’m throwing out there but would have to be cognizant with the neighbours’ wishes to try to appease their worries,” said Scott.
Besplug added Alpha Bull is willing to move its shows out of the evening to accommodate the McGonigles.
“Obviously we would like to do shows at night, it adds a different kind of element, but we are totally open to talking about what that looks like for them,” he said. “If that’s not an option as far as they’re concerned, we’re fine with moving our shows back into the afternoon.”
County councillors gave first reading to create the direct control district on the site, and will expect a development permit application prior to giving second and third readings, to ensure the site plans and traffic concerns are addressed.
Coun. Delilah Miller, who represents Div. 2 where the site is located, said she’s confident Scott and Besplug will handle the traffic control and noise concerns, and that they will work with the neighbours to ensure everyone is satisfied with the proposed arena.
“I feel that we have addressed most of the concerns, or all of the concerns, and I think I’m pretty confident I can take the applicant and the landowner at their word they will discuss with those three landowners a solution that is agreeable to all,” said Miller.
She said the major issues of traffic safety and sound attenuation can be addressed with the development permit with solutions such as rerouting traffic to a different access point, or having one entrance for contractors and another for spectators.
“I have no doubt this will be done correctly,” said Miller.
There are many benefits to having an amenity like the proposed facility in the area, she said.
“I think the amount of revenue and employment that this will bring to the area will certainly be a boost for the Longview area,” said Miller.
