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Camelot comes to rescue the rodeo
By Kenny Green, Staff Writer
The Mesquite Championship Rodeo has long been an important fixture to the visibility of the City of Mesquite. The rodeo is owned by Hicks Sports Group, which also owns among other things the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars.
Camelot Sports and Entertainment LLC notified the council of their intent to purchase the rodeo from Hicks Sports Group during Executive Session on Nov. 17. Camelot was formed with the sole intent of purchasing and renovating the rodeo. The council approved the resolution, 6-0.
Mike McCall, a representative for Camelot, told the council that this would be a highly successful public-private partnership that would benefit both his company as well as the City of Mesquite.
Among the renovations that Camelot has in mind for the rodeo is the installation of video boards that will be partially rebated by the city using the Rodeo City Tax Increment Finance Reinvestment Zone funds.
The city is scheduled to reimburse Camelot for 75 percentof the cost of the video boards which is estimated to be $1.4 million. The city is expected to pay Camelot out over four years at around $400,000 per payment.
Camelot plans to install three video boards inside Mesquite Arena within the next 4-6 months.
The city will also install a marquee video board sign that will be highly visible to the large amount of traffic on Interstate 635.
Camelot will be in charge of management of the marquee including selling advertising and updating the display. The city will retain the use of 20 percentof the display board’s video portion to be used at their discretion.
“We really felt we needed some added energy into the facility,” said McCall.
Camelot also intends remodel the suites and entertainment areas inside the arena, with all renovations to be completed by June 2010.
They will also reserve space for the next five years inside the arena for use by the Mesquite Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
McCall indicated that Camelot’s main goal was to make the Mesquite Rodeo something that the city could be proud of. He stated the company has four major goals for the rodeo.
First they want to ensure financial profitability by increasing attendance and other revenue streams.
Second he said that they would like to re-establish the rodeo as a unique entertainment venue. McCall indicated they wanted to take advantage of the strong heritage of the rodeo.
“The bottom line is in this day and age when you are looking for entertainment you can find lots of competition that have similar attributes, the rodeo itself has a heritage of championship rodeo and we want to make sure we compound that and continue to raise that,” said McCall. “We want to have something for everybody.”
Thirdly, they want to maintain a safe, clean, affordable and convenient arena. McCall pointed out that this was essential to making the rodeo a desirable destination.
“If we follow those areas then we have a chance to be very successful here,” said McCall.
McCall spoke of the company’s commitment to community support and charitable contributions. McCall told the council that the principal involved in the company has a strong history of giving back to the community.
McCall also said that this would be their number one goal but unfortunately they have to be making money to give money.
“This is not just a community arena, this is a clearly regional arena and with think that with dedicate sales effort we can reach out to the surrounding areas and the surrounding states and bring more people to the rodeo,” said McCall. “We have a commitment to building this rodeo into something bigger than it has ever been.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
BRG wrote on Jan 7, 2009 5:16 PM:
" Shouldn't the headline be "Camelot comes to rescue the rodeo with taxpayers' money"? The citizens of Mesquite put 1.6 million dollars in the pocket of a private developer. So, who is going to rescue the taxpayer? "
sherry wrote on Jan 10, 2009 8:08 AM:
" This is a really good thing for Mesquite. It will bring more visitors to this area. I only see one major problem that Mesquite has and that is public transportation. It has none. So if the residents of Mesquite have a problem getting around the Mesquite area, what makes you think that visitors won't have. For in Mesquite if you don't have a car, then it's either stay home or walk. Why is Mesquite so far behind the times? Yes! I live in Mesquite and it would be nice to be able to save gas and take a bus to Town East Mall. "
Rampike wrote on Jan 10, 2009 10:11 AM:
" Just what we need, more blinding signs to make driving at night even more hazardous like the one recently installed at Rusty Wallis Volkswagen on LBJ. The rodeo is an anachronism anyways just like the Devil's Bowl and needs to go bye bye. "
MELODYE wrote on Jan 13, 2009 1:47 PM:
" HOW ABOUT A PUBLIC TRANSPOTATION SYSTEM FOR MESQUITE. I agree that the rodeo has not been a a good draw for the public just like the Devil's Bowl. It would be nice to be able to take a bus to the mall "
mnm wrote on Jan 15, 2009 10:23 AM:
" YES to updating the Mesquite Rodeo Arena!! About time!! On Public Transportation -
Handicapped friends cannot come anywhere in Mesquite because no provision for them. "
Handicapped friends cannot come anywhere in Mesquite because no provision for them. "
earl mcgibboney wrote on Jan 16, 2009 7:46 PM:
" What do you have against Devils bowl speedway? Anachronistic? Be real....mesquite's whole image is that. As garland and plano grew, mesquite has fallen. Is it the lack of DART? is it Devils Bowl? Or is it the pervasive attitude throughout the city that mesquite is better than other suburbs? By better, i mean, more narrow-minded, more narrow-minded, and more about promoting the city's place as the Most White Friendly Suburb? I cannot count the times i have witnessed city agencies exhibit blatant duplicity in dealing with my wife(who is black) and then later, myself(I am white). The level of indifference and discourtesy she encountered at every turn(City Hall, library, MISD, all witnessed by me) was harshly contrasted by the smiles, patience, and willingness to make sure i was thoroughly satisfied at every turn when i simply repeated her requests at a later time to the same city employees. The librarians in particular were incredibly rude, to her, while being polite as could be to me, about the exact same book they claimed we had overdue. After we both spoke to them, then i spoke at length to them on the phone about the incidents and different treatment received, they "found" the book on the shelf.
I have at least 5 similar stories pertaining to school administration officials, but I digress......
again,. what y'all got against the reactrack? "
I have at least 5 similar stories pertaining to school administration officials, but I digress......
again,. what y'all got against the reactrack? "
Jen wrote on Jan 19, 2009 1:33 PM:
" I have lived in Mesquite my whole life, the reason we don't have public transpotation is because they have been trying to keep an undesirable element out of the city and therefore keep the crime rate in check, this has worked for a long time now, but I someone tend to agree with everyone here that Mesquite needs to come up to the times and allow dart in, I don't know about the rest of the neighborhoods in Mesquite, but that undesirable element they were trying to keep out, well, they have over run my neighborhood.
And, no I am not playing a race card here, b/c I am white, but I have a mostly mexican family since most of my family has married people of meixican deecent, but I can speak from experience here, I surely get no special treatment b/c I am white, in fact, it is the oposite. If I park even a portion of my car off of my driveway in the grass I get a ticket, however, my next door neighbor is a house full of mexicans and they quite often have cars parked on the SIDEWALK in front of the house and they never get so much as a warning. If I let my grass get just a little too high I get cited, but they can go for several weeks and nada, and its not just this house, its up and down the street that its like this. I am just so sick of everyone playing a race card, I firmly believe that 99% of the time if you are crying race, that is not the problem, there is an underlying situation and it usualy is how you approached the situation, you know how you say someting carries just as much weight as how you said it.
Now, back to the Rodeo issue, I LOVE the rodeo and go as often as I can so I would love to see something that would help revamp its image. "
And, no I am not playing a race card here, b/c I am white, but I have a mostly mexican family since most of my family has married people of meixican deecent, but I can speak from experience here, I surely get no special treatment b/c I am white, in fact, it is the oposite. If I park even a portion of my car off of my driveway in the grass I get a ticket, however, my next door neighbor is a house full of mexicans and they quite often have cars parked on the SIDEWALK in front of the house and they never get so much as a warning. If I let my grass get just a little too high I get cited, but they can go for several weeks and nada, and its not just this house, its up and down the street that its like this. I am just so sick of everyone playing a race card, I firmly believe that 99% of the time if you are crying race, that is not the problem, there is an underlying situation and it usualy is how you approached the situation, you know how you say someting carries just as much weight as how you said it.
Now, back to the Rodeo issue, I LOVE the rodeo and go as often as I can so I would love to see something that would help revamp its image. "
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