What used to be in the shadow of the 70-year-old Denver Coliseum is now one of the National Western Stock Show’s newest and largest attractions.

Officially opening at the end of 2025 and debuting to the public during this year’s 120th year of the Stock Show, the area where the old stockyards once stood now features two new buildings that will be used for events both during the show and beyond.

Built in conjunction with the National Western Center development that will add a total of 2.2 million square feet of indoor and outdoor spaces to the area, the two buildings join three new Colorado State University Spur buildings — all of which focus on different areas of environmental study, including animal health, agriculture and water research, according to CSU’s website — as well as future developments such as a new 527,000-square-foot Equestrian Center.

The first is the Western Stock Show Association Legacy Building, also known as “The Legacy.” The building features eight saloons, several boardrooms and conference spaces, terraces with views of the National Western Center, a 10,000-square-foot conference center and an art gallery that will present the National Western Art Collection to the public year-round, according to the organization’s website.

Funded entirely by private donations, the building will serve as a venue that can be rented out for meetings and other events during the Stock Show’s offseason, officials told The Denver Gazette. Construction crews broke ground on the facility in January 2023 and it opened to the public just under three years later.

The Legacy also features a slew of administrative offices used as the headquarters for National Western. Officials did not disclose how much the project cost, nor how many entities or donors provided funding.

In addition to the features within the building, it also has a glass observation area into the directly adjacent, and equally new, Sue Anschutz-Rogers Livestock Center. Opened at the same time as The Legacy, the center features a 5,000-seat arena around a 200,000-square-foot livestock hall, with room for more than 1,400 cattle, according to the website.

Funded primarily through Ballot Measure 2C funds, released as part of a 2015 vote that imposed a 1.75% auto rental and lodger’s tax, the $259 million complex will operate as an event space year-round, hosting livestock events during the Stock Show and other community events, graduations, sporting events, concerts and trade shows during the offseason.

Designed with livestock in mind, the center features several wash racks for showering down the cattle as well as power cables at each pen for exhibitors to plug in electric devices used to prepare the cattle for the show, officials said. Additionally, the facility’s floor is a smooth concrete that is covered with turf during the show to give the livestock more traction.

Officials also noted that Stock Show crews use a modified vacuum sweeper to keep the flooring sanitary and presentable after the cattle have used it.

Still under development, the Equestrian Center, which will include a 4,000-seat arena, a climate-controlled 132,000-square-foot horse barn with nearly 600 stalls and an adjacent hotel, broke ground in the fall of 2025, according to the website.

The 120th National Western Stock Show will continue through Jan. 25. Those interested in purchasing tickets and viewing schedules can do so at nationalwestern.com.