The National Western Stock Show has outgrown its old location in north Denver and deserves a new home. And it has found an excellent possibility in Aurora, next to a planned convention center- hotel complex.
But the plan has a major flaw that stood out from the moment it was unveiled Tuesday. We’ll let Denver Councilwoman Marcia Johnson explain: “How in the world are you going to convince the citizens of Denver to issue those bonds when they’re not going to have the stock show?” she asked.
Still more to the point, how are you going to persuade Denver voters to raise taxes for those bonds when no one else is being asked to make a similar sacrifice? If a new, improved stock show will be a regional asset — and it will be — then its funding base should be regional, too.
Until Tuesday, most people aware of the stock show’s interest in locating near an $824 million Gaylord Entertainment hotel and conference center assumed it would be built on airport land within Denver’s border. But in recent weeks, that option was withdrawn as city and stock show officials realized how hard it would be to secure FAA approval. Their revised plan has the stock show entirely within Aurora.
It’s an understandable move from a purely functional point of view, but the politics are a minefield.
Just to be clear, we have no problem with the stock show relocating from its present site. The facilities there are aging and the site itself is not nearly large enough to provide the modern amenities that today’s visitors expect. Officials say they need roughly three times the acreage to thrive.
We also reject the parochial vision of those who act as if Denver benefits only when major projects are located or expanded within its borders. In fact, Denver prospers when the region prospers. If the stock show can attract hundreds of thousands of additional visitors in Aurora, as well as turn its facilities into year-round attractions, then by all means let it relocate — particularly if there isn’t a site within the city that would fill the bill.
What gives us pause is the awkward nature of the funding package — which is, admittedly, still in preliminary form.
On the one hand, Aurora and the state would be asked to subsidize the project with sales tax revenue collected at the facility. Those are major contributions, but no tax hike would be involved. Denver, meanwhile, would contribute not only proceeds from the sale of the existing site (fair enough) but also with general obligation bonds financed with a tax hike.
Our record of political forecasting may not be perfect, but it doesn’t take a genius to predict an uphill climb for any such ballot measure.
City and stock show officials who met with The Denver Post editorial board Wednesday emphasized that details of a ballot measure have not been worked out. And they suggested the deal could be far more attractive to voters than the bare-bones outline offered this week.
As big fans of the stock show, we certainly hope so — because the long-term fate of the event may depend upon it.
