Horse park has ‘money issue’

Dan Kulin

Thursday, May 4, 2006 | 7:30 a.m.

The possible design and cost of a proposed 320-acre equestrian park on Las Vegas' northern edge are beginning to take shape - but the plan still is many furlongs from the finish line.

Already more than seven years in the making, the proposed park is approaching its next make-or-break phase as local officials prepare to go after federal money for the $38 million project.

Within the next several months, Las Vegas officials expect to ask for up to $9 million in federal funds to help pay for the first phase of the park, proposed for a site along the east side of Floyd Lamb State Park at the intersection of Jones Boulevard and Iron Mountain Road.

City and private funds also would be needed, creating a fiscally and politically challenging formula that could take years to complete. But if the funding comes together, ground could be broken in about two years.

"I cannot say this is a done deal," said Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross, whose ward includes the proposed park site. "It's the money issue."

The city received approval in the late 1990s from the Bureau of Land Management to put the equestrian park on government land.

With the land and a federally funded study that produced the $38 million estimate in hand, the city this summer will seek more federal money from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. Those funds would come from a portion of the revenue received from BLM land auctions.

Under a plan developed by the city's consultant on the park, Greenways Inc. of Durham, N.C., the $9.9 million first phase of the project would include 240 stalls in two horse barns, an outdoor arena with a covered grandstand, an outdoor practice arena, a concession area, parking and some trails.

Greenways' proposed funding for that phase would include $7 million in federal funds, $1.7 million from the city and $1.2 million in private donations. (Because the financial plan is so fluid, the city plans to ask for more federal money than the $7 million that Greenways says would be needed initially.)

Federal officials probably would not make a decision for a year to 18 months, and even if the plan were approved, the park would face additional hurdles based on where it ranked on future funding priority lists.

Overall, local leaders hope Washington pays more than 60 percent of the project's total cost. The private sector would be counted on to contribute $1.8 million over the plan's four phases.

Greenways President Chuck Flink said achieving that target would "show the level of private support for the project."

A survey in July of 226 local horse owners showed that about 180 would ride in an indoor or covered arena if more were available - about 70 of them more than once a week.

Flink said the private funds could come from naming rights. City officials, though, are still researching whether the federal restrictions on the land and future grant money would allow such advertising.

Councilman Larry Brown said he believes the project is viable and will be built because it has strong support from horse owners.

City Manager Doug Selby said while raising private funds for the equestrian park is being considered, they would not necessarily be part of the final funding solution.

"There seems to be more potential there," Selby said. "It's just appealing if it's possible."

Ed Dodrill, a member of the Horse Council of Nevada and longtime supporter of the planned park, said the prospect of raising money from the public scares him.

"Going into the community would be tough," he said. "We're not finding homes for orphans, you know."

Dodrill, though, remains optimistic that the park will be built - and knows that it is needed.

"One, we want a safe place to ride without getting run off the road. And two, we want a place for a show," he said, adding that Clark County's Horseman's Park is not good enough anymore.

Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, who hopes to secure county funding for the project, said Horseman's Park has problems with flooding, limited parking and is always busy. That points to the need for another, larger equestrian park, Collins said.

A new city park would attract local and regional equestrian events, Ross and others said.

"These are events that will attract people from all over the country, and be one more feather in the cap for Las Vegas to get people to come here," Ross said.

Selby predicts that the city could break ground on the park in two years, with the first phase being completed about a year later.

"Getting the land was the easy part," Selby said. "The hard part is the financing and construction."

Under Greenways' proposal, phase two would add another horse barn and more trails, with phase three bringing arenas for cutting and dressage and another concession area. The final phase would add a recreational vehicle parking area, animal pens and possibly more horse stalls.

When the project is finished, three-quarters of the park would be covered by trails, with the arenas, parking areas and stalls confined to an 80-acre portion of the land.

Greenways' plan calls for the facility to be managed by a public-private partnership, in which the city would own and control the park, while private contractors would run some parts of the business, such as concessions.

The consultant's report projects that while phase one of the project would lose about $130,000 a year, the completed park would make an annual profit of nearly $200,000 by its fifth year.

Although the park would target local and regional events, its arenas would not be big enough to compete for national rodeos and other major shows, such as those held at the new South Coast equestrian facility.

Rob Stillwell, spokesman for South Coast owner Boyd Gaming, said the company is not worried about any direct competition.

"They're going after a different market," he said.