Competition springs up for horse business

COLUMBIA — Twenty miles north of Columbia, and just across the Randolph County line, the Junction Development Group has proposed a $45 million mixed-use development that includes a state of the art horse venue intended to lure national and regional shows.

Junction’s plans have came to light several months after a consultant advised Boone County commissioners to ramp up the horse show operation at the publicly owned Boone County Fairgrounds if they want it to remain competitive. The consultant, Rod Markin of Maple Grove, Minn., suggested adding 80 new horse stalls to the 224 already there and covering an existing arena. Those projects together, he estimated, could cost from $750,000 to $1.3 million.

Since Markin’s proposal, the county has accepted the donation of a 125-by-175-foot building that will be reconstructed over the current arena and cover most but not all of an existing outdoor facility for horses. Boone County Northern District Commissioner Skip Elkin said the relocation of the donated building from its current location to the fairgrounds should begin within the next 90 days and cost the county $150,000.

Fairground manager George Harris said the building will be used not only for horse shows but also for swap meets, trade shows and other events.

“It’s a great improvement for the county,” Harris said. “The purpose of the building is to cover the outdoor arena so we can use it in inclement weather and expand our shows.”

Harris said regular users of the fairgrounds are eagerly anticipating the improvement.

“It will be really nice, not only to help us get some other shows, but to help us keep the shows we already have,” Harris said.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the fairgrounds can compete with Junction Development. While county officials express confidence, some users of the fairgrounds say it barely meets their needs, and the county thus far has lacked the money to be more aggressive about improving the fairgrounds’ horse facilities.

Curt Hardin, a member of Junction Development, said its project will include facilities for horse shows, indoor motor sports, concerts and trade shows. Horse barns and related facilities would be included as part of a colosseum that will cost between $20 million and $30 million.

“We’ll probably have around 300 stalls in the barns,” Hardin said. “Most horse events will basically be national events.”

Elkin, who is the lead county official on planning for the fairgrounds, said only time will tell whether the Randolph County project will have an impact here.

“I support any type of growth and economic development in the area,” Elkin said. “I would hope that those developing have done an analysis to see if it’s something Randolph County needs.”

Randolph County Commissioner Doug Galaske said Junction’s plans represent new territory for his county, but the commission is working with the developers to create a comprehensive plan. Junction is applying for tax increment financing, a complicated process that Galaske said will take at least a couple of months to work through.

“Everybody in the county — certainly the commission — wants to see this happen as soon as possible,” Galaske said. Hardin said Junction expects to get the go-ahead from Randolph County officials around May 15.

Although there could be significant overlap in Junction’s targeted horse show clientele and those who hold shows at the Boone County Fairgrounds, Elkin said he remains unconcerned.

“The events that happen at Boone County Fairgrounds are more of an agriculture-related type of activity than what I understand would be in Randolph County,” he said. “(The) Boone County Fairgrounds are located closer to I-70, and I don’t think it would damage our clientele, but we’re still waiting for final advisements from the consultants we hired.”

Robbie Rainer, who owns the Show Me Classic Horse Sale, holds three events at the fairgrounds each year but said it could use some improvements. He said that if the Juntion Development project is larger than either the fairgrounds or the Midway Exposition Center, which has 425 permanent stalls and six arenas, it could attract large horse sales like his.

“There’s not enough stalls at the fairgrounds; there’s no warm-up arena,” he said, adding that he keeps 120 moveable stalls at the fairgrounds year-round to meet his needs. “(The current facilities) are not big enough to accommodate what I have. I couldn’t expand my sale at the fairgrounds.”

“You cannot change dates or get another date at Boone County Fairgrounds,” Rainer continued. “By the time this thing’s built (in Randolph County), if no improvements have been made to the Boone County Fairgrounds, a new arena would be used by a lot of people.”

Still, Harris said he doesn’t anticipate any drop in activity if the Junction project comes to fruition.

“I’m sure that depends on what they use it for,” he said. “I haven’t seen any plans.”

Ralph VanKirk, who has held two events at the fairgrounds annually for the past 10 to 15 years, said he likes it there. VanKirk is in charge of the World Foxtrotting Horse Sale and works with Harris on heading up several horse and mule sales and the Sportsmans Trade Show annually.

“I would seriously doubt that we would move,” VanKirk said. “Columbia has a better location for motels and restaurants. I think we would stay in Boone County.”