Equine center at Extraco getting second look in update to fairgrounds master plan
A $10 million equine center with 1,000 horse stalls is next on the list McLennan County made when voters approved special-purpose taxes to build new facilities at the Extraco Events Center.
The countywide surtaxes on hotel stays and car rentals are now paying off the Base event center and small pieces of Waco's new Lake Air Little League complex and Waco Independent School District's new Paul Tyson Field.
Whether the equine center should remain the county's next priority for the funding stream is a question commissioners want the Populous consulting firm to answer.
County Judge Scott Felton said he has no doubt the center would benefit the community, bringing more horse fans and their families to the Extraco Events Center fairgrounds and rodeo complex at Lake Air Drive and Bosque Boulevard. They would stay in hotels, patronize local restaurants and otherwise stimulate the economy.
But commissioners want more input from Populous, the community and Heart O' Texas Fair & Rodeo volunteers before taking another bite from the redevelopment apple. Populous, an architecture and design firm, prepared a master plan for the fairgrounds in 2010, and the county hired the company as the master architect for the fairgrounds "venue project" that voters approved in 2017.
The ballot measure authorized an additional 2% tax on hotel stays and an additional 5% tax on car rentals, and the revenue can only be used to finance construction at or associated with the fairgrounds. The city Little League complex and school stadium received support in coordination with land swaps with the county, needed to make room for the equine center.
But the $10 million slated for the equine center more than five years ago would not be enough to build it now, Felton said. The already-completed projects also had sailed north of their initial cost estimates by 2018, when the county sold its first round of bonds backed by the "venue tax."
The county trimmed some elements from the initial plans for the Base. Then John W. Erwin General Contractor completed the construction for less than the revised estimates, "and it is used just about all the time," Felton said.
He said he wonders if the public wants an equine center more than anything else, and if such a venue remains a high priority, could its design accommodate uses other than horse showings.
"A lot has changed, and not for the better," Felton said of rising construction costs in the years since the center was proposed.
County commissioners this week agreed to tap again Populous' expertise, approving a $252,800 contract to update the master plan for the venue project. County Administrator Dustin Chapman said Populous will work with real estate consulting firm Hunden Partners as a subcontractor.
Felton said the levy on car rentals and hotel stays is more than holding its own. Annual payments of $1.9 million are needed to pay off debt for the work done so far. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2023, the county received $2.6 million in hotel occupancy taxes and $564,000 in vehicle rental taxes, about $1.3 million more than necessary.
Hotel-tax revenue was up about $100,000 from the year before, and rental-tax revenue was up about $25,000, Chapman said.
Except for a rough patch during the COVID-19 pandemic, the revenue has proved more than adequate.
Heart O' Texas Fair President Wes Allison, whose position means he has a stake in the equine center, said planning produces good results.
"The reason for the updated master plan is to ensure we are making 40-year impactful decisions, not short-term limiting decisions," Allison said.
"Normally we host 48 to 50 equine or livestock events per year with an estimated economic impact of $40 million, roughly more than half the economic impact of the Extraco Events Center," Allison said. "Anything we add will be multipurpose, meaning arenas and animal housing can be used for diverse purposes.
"Remember this facility, unlike others in our area and industry, is managed by the Heart of Texas Fair and we receive no annual operating funds from any public source. I am very proud that we can create more than $80 million in economic impact and give $500,000 in scholarships per year. As a charitable organization, we have given more than $5 million in scholarships since 1991."
Addressing the nuts and bolts of how the study may proceed, Allison said he expects officials from Populous and Hunden to visit Waco during the Heart O' Texas Fair and Rodeo running Oct. 3-13, then work with local officials on the timeline for completing the update to the master plan.
"They need to see how the entire facility is used for the largest event in Central Texas," he said. "Market analysis will be key in determining a sustainable model for the campus moving forward."
Felton said the county has not yet paid off the Base, and has financial commitments to the city and school district. Though things generally are going well financially, the county must remain diligent, he said. The levies on hotel stays and vehicle rentals have kept pace with indebtedness, but the county needs to know more about how an equine center to the mix might change the picture.
Felton said he knows of no specific project that would supplant the equine center in the county's pecking order of priorities.
"That's why we're paying for a study," he said.
He acknowledged previous discussions about building a hotel near the growing fairgrounds, and he did not discount such a venture.
"But you can drive from there to the farthest hotel in Greater Waco in less than 20 minutes," Felton said, voicing one factor to consider.
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