The old cowboy saying that when you get bucked off the bronco, you’ve got to climb back on and try again applies to the National Western Center Authority and the City of Denver when it comes to getting a shiny new, 10,000-seat arena.

Both backed Question 2E in November, which asked voters to approve a $190 million bond measure that would have helped pay for a 10,000-seat arena and revamping a stock show building into a community market. But Denver voters soundly rejected it, returning backers to the drawing board.

“It certainly didn’t help that folks had not been on the campus for almost two years,” said Brad Buchannan, CEO of the Authority, noting the 2021 Stock Show had been cancelled due to the pandemic and constant construction made it difficult to visit.

The Authority oversees the National Western Stock Show land that makes up the National Western Complex and Denver Coliseum off I-70 and Brighton Boulevard.

The authority was created in 2015 when the Western Stock Show Association (the folks who bring the Stock Show to Denver every year), Colorado State University system and the City and County of Denver signed an agreement to develop the campus and reinvigorate the center-city land.

Voters passed measure 2C that November, allowing bonds to be issued on the back of a 1.75% tourism tax on hotel rooms and rental cars, not to exceed $778 million.

Phases 1 and 2 of that bond-fueled construction resulted in the new Cille and Ron Williams Stockyards, a 46,000-square-foot HW Hutchison Family Stockyards Event Center, an equestrian center and trade show area. All of them were unveiled for the ongoing 2022 National Western Stock Show, which runs through Jan. 23, along with the first of three buildings on the new CSU Spur campus there.

“We were very supportive when the mayor asked us what we thought of the idea,” said Paul Andrews, president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show Association, of the defeated vote. “We raised money to support the idea … but it appears that was not the vehicle voters would like to see used.”

City officials said it’s likely voters got confused, and thought 2E was going to include a tax increase (it wasn’t – the measure called for general obligation bonds to be issued). And they likely thought they had just approved funding for the National Western Center Authority campus in 2015, said Jenna Espinoza-Garcia, communications director for the City of Denver.

“The broader Denver community didn’t know the progress we had made,” Espinoza-Garcia said. “We hope many got to see the progress at the Stock Show this year.

“We’re sure people were feeling like ‘We already approved funding for this, and haven’t seen any return on investment yet’.”

Now the authority, Stock Show Association and City of Denver officials are re-grouping, talking to community members and trying to formulate a new plan.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board with the community,” Espinoza-Garcia said. “We’re starting discussions again and keeping them in the loop. It’s clear they want to be more involved partners.”

In the meantime, construction starts this summer on the 3,500-seat Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center.

CoBank just donated $5 million to the National Western Center, by way of the Honoring the Legacy Campaign, earning naming rights for the CoBank Livestock Arena and the CoBank Livestock Auction Arena.

The 146,000 square-foot, 5,000-seat CoBank Livestock Arena “will be one of the most vital and heavily trafficked locations on the National Western Center campus during the National Western Stock Show and throughout the year,” according to a news release.

The CoBank Livestock Auction Arena hosts the popular Junior Livestock Auction Jan. 21. The 10,000 square-foot facility seats 700.

That fundraising campaign is not related to any new 10,000-seat events center, to hopefully replace the aging Denver Coliseum — which was built in 1952.

“These funds must be used for the Livestock Center, which will break ground in 2022,” Andrews said via email.

Andrews said the National Western Stock Show owes $125 million to Denver to pay for phases 1 and 2. It transferred 90 acres of land, valued at $75 million.

“The other $50 million had to be a cash infusion, and the CoBank donation is part of that $50 million,” Andrews said. “The new, multi-purpose building all the partners are trying to have built will be in a different business model, that is yet to be determined.”

A new events center would help the Stock Show’s rodeo stay competitive, Andrews said. Right now the aging Coliseum is competing against venues like the new 14,000-seat Dickeys Arena in Fort Worth, which opened in late 2019.

“State-of-the-art facilities cities are building keeps them staying competitive. They can draw higher talent pools and pay out more,” Andrews said. “Fort Worth pays out $1 million. We’re in the $600,000 range. … No one is really suggesting the Denver Coliseum, built in 1952, is a competitive venue across America.”