By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
The county is looking at adding more new seating to the county fairgrounds arena.
The plan is to do the area where the bucking chutes, the box seats and the announcing/judging seating are located and to make them like the rest of the seating.
The revenue for the new seating is coming from the money made by events held at the county arena. The money has been squirreled away until it accumulated into a fund sufficient to redo the last stand of wooden seats.
Chris Memmott and Wade Garrett, representing the Ute Stampede Committee, met with Juab County Commissioners to discuss the new proposal which had been designed by Southern Bleachers to fill that last old space.
"The seats in that area (section E) are dangerous because of the aged construction," said Byron Woodland, commission chairman. "The rest of the seating is fairly new but this seating represents a safety issue."
"We do have the revenue," said Rick Carlton, commissioner. "We won't have to borrow any money. It makes it an easier decision and we hope to be able to start this fall."
Garrett said that, when he was 10 years old, he was told that the seating there had only five years of life left and the bleachers had lasted several years beyond that prediction.
There were some problems with the plan which will need to be rectified before any final drawings can be approved.
"What we saw in the plans was that the spot, where we have the ambulance park each year, was gone," said Memmott.
Woodland said that the events held at the arena all needed to depend on ambulance service being near at hand and so that part of the plan would need to be redesigned.
"We need ambulance access," he said.
"We have plenty of seats in the arena," said Memmott. "But box seats are important."
He said that, if the fans who sit in those reserved and higher-priced box seats, some of them season tickets (obtained for a fee each year), are not able to see into the bucking chutes, the value of those seats is taken away.
Not all of the seats have to meet ADA standards, he said. There were plenty of seats on the west side of the arena under the covered bleachers which did meet those standards and which provided a good view for any rodeo fan. All those seats look toward the bucking chutes.
However, there were those fans who liked to sit above the action and those seats needed to be preserved.
Garrett said he thought that the ADA requirement was that, for every 100 seats, two had to be ADA compliant.
Woodland said that team ropers had some complaints about the flat contour of the arena on the one side.
The reason for that, said Memmott, was to allow optimum arena for all events and the best view for each.
"We don't sell a lot of tickets for team ropers," said Memmott.
The complaints of ropers were the same for many arenas. The same sort of contour was used in the design of the arena at Nevada which is used for the National Finals Rodeo, he said.
Woodland said that the high school rodeos did have many ropers and they also used the arena.
"We have to tell you what our needs are and what we need," said Memmott.
He liked a plan that had box seats, a booth above and referees down below.
It had been suggested, also, that the new seating areas be made of concrete and that they flow contiguously into the rest of the seating.
Memmott said that the drawings being considered were one plan.
"We will have to bid out the seating," said Woodland.
The company which had done the preliminary drawings would have to bid on the job just as others who were interested would have to compete for the bid.
"We are looking for a plan that is contiguous to the rest of the seating," said Carlton.
He said that a piecemeal look was not desirable. He said commissioners wanted the seating to be good for the Stampede but for all the other events held at the arena from the high school rodeo to the demolition derby to the motocross event to the county fair and 4-H events.
"We want to go as far as we can with the revenue we have from the events held at the arena," said Carlton.
The arena should also promote things for the youth of the community and should have transformable space, said Memmott.
"I would like to see it as a facility that could also be used for concerts," said Woodland.
He suggested that the commission form a committee that would have representatives of various stakeholders in the arena in order to get the best ideas.
Memmott said the bucking chutes were important, also. The rodeo had a great amount of stock which needed to be moved from point A to point B in order to have the animals ready for the next event.
"The option would be to have more corrals," said Memmott.
"This is just a concept," said Carlton.
Memmott stressed the importance of the grandstand, box seats, left and right hand delivery and the animal holding areas.
The committee to be formed will also include Jamie Garrett, county fairgrounds manager.
"We hope to finalize the plans this year and have it ready for construction next year," said Carlton.
Memmott also suggested that a strip and finish be put on the metal seats in section F.
