A tie-down roper prepares for his turn during Saturday's rodeo at the Stampede Grandstand. The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede has signed a 25-year lease to operate on city-owned land with an option to further extend the $1-per-year agreement until 2071. - NEWS FILE
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede has signed a new 25-year lease to operate on city-owned land with an option to further extend the $1-per-year agreement until 2071.
The Stampede company has operated at the 96-acre site in Crestwood for the past 74 years and will continue under the initial new agreement until at least 2046.
That was signed four years ahead of schedule after 14 months of negotiations.
The board made a brief presentation before Monday’s city council meeting, where the agreement was endorsed by a 9-0 council vote.
Stampede officials said a longer term lease makes applying for government grants easier. It solidifies the Stampede’s position as it moves to planning and fundraising on a plan announced this year to revamp its grandstand and Higdon Hall area into an event centre facility.
“It’s not where you’ve been, but where you finish,” said Stampede board member Rod Edwards. “We’re coming off a 50-year lease and we’d like to continue for the next 50 years.”
The agreement also brings some resolution to a public disagreement two years ago when the two groups were at loggerheads over a city land department proposal to develop five acres at the north end of the site for new housing.
The MHES company said the land, though vacant for most of the year, is needed for parking. Eventually the city paused the project. The new agreement describes the five acres as an area of “mutual interest” that will need to be formally discussed every 10 years.
Coun. Darren Hirsch said negotiations are concluded and the deal is satisfactory to both sides, but cited analysis that if land were leased at typical commercial rates, the city could charge $500,000 per year.
“It’s essentially a contribution in kind that the city is making to the Stampede of $500,000 a year,” he said. “That’s important to understand anytime we engage in lease discussions in these $1-a-year arrangements.”
The agreement also includes a parking and access agreement for the Kinplex arena, which is owned and operated by the city. The Stampede is responsible for all taxes and utilities owed from the site.
“They’re a huge contributor the community and we wish them the best,” said Coun. Robert Dumanowski.
The only other discussion point came from Coun. Shila Sharps who asked Edwards about the limitations at the site, which is now largely surrounded by residential areas built up over the years.
Edwards said the fairground was relocated from the airport area in the early 1950s to its current location and communities built up around them over time.
He said fairs that relocate to the edges of municipalities tend to struggle, while more centralized facilities to better.
“We’re right where we want to be and need to be,” he said. “When we put on events we’re right in the middle and there’s no driving to the far north or far south.”
A presentation states the Stampede provides 104 jobs to the community and an total economic impact of $14.7 million annually to the local economy.
