City council is going back to Chestermere’s roots by exploring the possibility of building a rodeo and exhibition grounds in the area.
City council has begun discussions with Rocky View County (RVC), and the Rocky View Chestermere Agricultural Society about building a rodeo and exhibition site.
“It’s an idea of trying to enhance the really good work that the Ag Society is doing,” Mayor Jeff Colvin said. “The beginnings of Chestermere was the collective community getting together around stampede ideas, and rodeo ideas, and Chestermere’s grassroots around that.”
RVC expressed interest in the concept of the project, during initial discussions.
City administration was directed to move forward with further discussions and identify in collaboration with the Ag Society and RVC possible locations for the grounds, and funding mechanisms, and report back to council by the end of the year.
“It’s not a small project, but we want to bring the key parties to the table on how to look into this. The exhibition grounds are so flexible, you could use them for so many reasons, all the community and interest groups could have functions outdoors,” Colvin said. “The idea is activity around Chestermere, where residents enjoy all these active amenities and active sports. We really want to bring and push to support these things within our community and our groups that are doing such a good job working at this.”
The grounds site is still to be determined, but a site east of Clearwater has been discussed.
“It’s still in close proximity to Chestermere, so there’s walkability is the concept, but it’s in its infant stage, it’s up in the air,” Colvin said.
“We wanted to bite in the community culture, like what the Calgary stampede has done for Calgary,” he said. “It’s right downtown, it’s centred to their culture which is exciting, it’s a unique opportunity, and I think that opportunity stands for Chestermere if it’s embraced, which I suspect it will be.”
City Councillor Shannon Dean expressed that he wants to see the project be done in collaboration with the Ag Society.
“We’re working together, alongside, collaborating with, asking what they need, I think they are going to be the experts in this area, they know how to do this, and they do it well,” Dean said. “I’d like to see us ensure that it’s collaborative.”
