Although an outdoor rodeo would be ideal, and it could quickly solve all of the issues surrounding the use of the Jasper Arena, it seems unlikely that one will occur this summer.
To make it happen, the Jasper Heritage Rodeo Association, which has at this point only had informal discussions with Parks Canada about the possibility of holding the 88-year-old rodeo outdoors, has less than four months to plan and orchestrate the event.
And in that time, it has to gain approval from Parks, get the appropriate permits, measure the area, come up with a plan for the pens, the grounds, the bleachers, ticketing, food vendors and the rest of it, as well as rent the necessary equipment and find enough volunteers to get the event set up and functioning.
So, even if Parks finds and approves a location at lightening speeds鈥攚hich in itself is completely unlikely鈥攖here is still a mountain鈥檚 worth of work to do just to set up the venue for the event.
The rodeo association has found itself in this predicament for a few reasons.
First, it鈥檚 financially strapped. Even with a break on its rent鈥攚hich was substantially increased in 2013鈥攖he event only managed to break even last year.
Second, there was a fire in the arena in January, that resulted in a deep cleaning of the entire facility, and now that the space is clean, the municipality would like to see it remain that way.
Because of this, last month when the rodeo association approached council for a concession on the rental fee for the Jasper Arena, administration presented council with four options for moving forward with the rodeo, three of which require the association to pay for the cost of a commercial cleaning following the event. That cost is high鈥攁bout $100,000 for one year鈥檚 cleaning鈥攁nd completely out of the association鈥檚 budget.
So, rather than voting on those options鈥攚hich would likely result in the demise of the event鈥攁t the April 15 meeting, Mayor Richard Ireland instead proposed that council support the rodeo association in its attempt to find an outdoor location. That support, a $10,000 grant, is the third reason the association is now scrambling without a venue.
In the past, the rodeo was held at Marmot Meadows, but it was moved indoors 37 years ago when the Lions Club was still running the show.
There鈥檚 no doubt that moving the rodeo back into the great outdoors would be a positive change for the long-time event. As Coun. Gilbert Wall said, such a move would result in 鈥渁 rodeo that is much more heritage in nature.鈥� It would bring the event back to its roots.
But as things stand, with less than four months until the horses hit the ground, it would take a miracle to pull it together in time.
We鈥檒l keep our hopes up that that miracle will come, but in the meantime, we hope the municipality will keep the arena schedule open to ensure that, if all else fails, the rodeo has a venue come August.
