Giddy-Up: National Western's Stockyards On The Move When Show Ends
This weekend is the last chance for visitors to the National Western Stock Show complex to see the historic stockyards and grounds as they have been for most of their 113-year history.
After the stock show comes to an end Sunday, the stockyards and event center will relocate to just north of their current location at the National Western Complex as part of a $1B redevelopment of the grounds' aging and inefficient buildings and infrastructure.
Replacing the yards will be a 526K SF equestrian center, slated for completion by 2022 and one of eight new buildings expected to be developed on the 250-acre site north of downtown. The site's new stockyard facility will have removable pens that will be taken down each February to allow the 20-acre plot to be used for parking, outdoor concerts, markets and more. The original wood from the existing stockyards will be used architecturally in and around the campus.
The new Stockyards Event Center will house a state-of-the-art sale facility, large show arena and new Yard Bar. Don’t panic — the existing Stockyard Saloon is staying put in the historic Livestock Exchange Building, which the city bought earlier this month for $11.5M.
Created by the city and county of Denver, Colorado State University, the Western Stock Show Association, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and History Colorado, the master plan for the National Western Center will create flexible and vibrant indoor and outdoor spaces that allow various uses throughout the year, including markets, offices, restaurants, retail, festivals and the Stock Show — “the Best 16 days in January,” as this year’s tagline proclaims.
The goal is to create a center to respond to global challenges around food, water, energy and the environment; improve, restore and enhance the site and its surroundings ecologically, economically and socially; and create long-term workspaces and job opportunities.
The CSU and partner areas will include the Food Systems Innovation and Learning Center; educational urban farm and demonstration fields; a performing arts and lecture hall; art, music and dance studios; conference and meeting space; a permanent Coors Western Art Gallery; and flexible gallery and exhibit space. In addition, there will be 350K SF of exhibit space and flexible event and ballroom space.
In 2011, the National Western Stock Show was mired in controversy when it considered relocating next to the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, which opened Dec. 18. But National Western’s lease for its Denver site runs until 2040, so the organization needed the city’s consent to move. The city and county of Denver agreed to invest in a new National Western complex to ensure that the stock show remain in Denver.
“The plan will ensure the stock show event will continue being a Colorado tradition for another hundred years,” Mayor Michael Hancock wrote in a letter included in the master plan. “It will also deliver a dynamic year-round tourist destination and agribusiness incubator, reclaim access to the South Platte River and reconnect the neighborhoods of Globeville, Elyria and Swansea with not only new streets and bridges but with new educational and economic opportunities. This plan sets the stage for Denver and the region to play a pivotal role in solving critical global issues before us around healthy food production and safety as we grapple with the realities of how we ultimately feed billions of people by 2050.”
