HomeMy WebLinkAbout790644.tiff 5 June 1979
The Honorable Board of County
Commissioners
Greeley, Colorado 80631
Gentlemen:
Herewith is an account which I have written of the
city' s Island Grove Grandstand. Weld County build it in
1925. I write of it because I seem to be the sole survivor
of the county and city officials who had to do with its
building.
A boy' s careless match set fire to it in early 1978
and burned it to ashes and twisted steel . The Greeley City
Council has wisely rebuilt it to be ready for the Independ-
ence Day Stampede of July 4 , 1979 . Active men of Greeley
affairs have for a half century given their time and talents
to preparing and conduct of that community celebration. Hats
off to them:
Greeley is in the fore front, with that show and with
its Weld County Fair for which the grandstand is essential .
I trust you will find this account of general interest .
Very truly yours ,
yilio 0
Wil. iam R. Kelly
WRK:nz
cc : The Honorable Mayor $ City Councilmen
The President $ Board of the Independence Stampede
A J �° , �Y,.. `•./" " ` 790644
64 4
ISLAND GROVE PARK GRANDSTAND
I see that the new grandstand built by Greeley at
Island Grove Park is now ready for use . It will accommodate
the spectators for 1979 Independence Day Stampede and those
for many more years to come . They will be sheltered from the
rain and sun as were those for over fifty years in the grand-
stand it replaces and will seat more people,_
That former structure was set fire to by a boy who was
irresponsible but who had a match which he lit and threw into
a can of trash under the seatsncareless of the consequences .
The resultant fire kindled the stand and burned it down. The
boy got his kick out of the blazes .
That original grandstand was built by Weld County. It
was on city land. The city got title to it. The County
Commissioners who built it were Dan C. Straight , Charles F.
Hewitt and Forest Powers . They deserve acknowledgement for
their positive action. They were importuned to build it by the
Weld County Fair Board whose fair the Commissioners wanted to
help uphuild. A_previous fair association had to take bank-
ruptcy to pro-rate the premium moneys which had fallen short
from poor attendance. The 1925 Board of Commissioners wanted
to improve the exhibit buildings and the scant bletcher
seatings of the track and arena upon which animals and events
were shown. The city pleaded a lack of funds .
Page 2
The Commissioners thought the grandstand would
encourage contestants and spectators for a fair proportionate
to Weld County' s agricultural leadership. The city offered
city engineer' s services for design and construction. He was
R. W. Gelder , an able but rarely employed civil engineer.
The Commissioners decide to go ahead but a legal
question arose as to the power to contract for a debt by a
city limited by the constitution. I was the county attorney
to whom was put the solution of the problem to make a legal
contract for the city to reimburse the county' s cost. This
task brought me in as a participant - the only one of those
involved, the County Commissioners , City Council , engineer or
lawyer still living. It seems up to me to tell the history
of how the park got this recreation and county fair adjunct .
My office was acting as attorney - was to advise and
represent in courts , the County Commissioners , Clerk, Sheriff,
Assessor, Treasurer, County School Superintend pt , all county
A.(ic,C a-. and%iQ/`
agencies , hospital , Lunacy Commission and C nty^ Au e4soand
!
other legal affairs .
My solution of the grandstand obligation was based on
the revenue bond basis recently heldSupreme Court not
to create a city debt offending the constitution. I drafted it
to have the city agree to pay the county cost by rendering a
25 cent per seat charge to the county for each charge event for
which a charge was made , the county fair being excluded, so
Page 3
the commissioners took no rights .
Gelder designed the covered grandstand, supervised its
construction, kept the costs down to about $25 , 000 . 00 . Labor ,
lumber and steel were cheaper those days .
The grandstand was ready for the Weld County fair that
fall . Crowds filled it then and thereafter at fairs , rodeos ,
and races .
The County Commissioners got from Fort Russel (now Fort
Warren) the crack Black Horse Calvary Troopers from Fort Meyers ,
Virginia, then temporarily stationed at Fort Russel to perform
that year and got a six horse artillery battery to perform the
next year. Since then, yearly, it has filled those grandstand
seats until the fire . The public has approved the arrangement .
Two candidates for President of the U. S . , two for U. S .
Senate and others for Governor have spoken in front of those
seats . County fair exhibits of animals each year and other
spectacles have entertained the people as have the rodeos of
bronco riding , roping and steer wrestling of each Fourth of
July and some junior rodeos . Horse races , running and harness
horse races have been held in front of the stands . There were
horse shows some years ago , crowds came. The rodeo kept
growing. The rodeo committees have ploughed earnings into
chutes , stands and contestant purses .
Top professional and amateur riders and ropers have
entered the contests . The Independence Day show of rodeo of
Page 4
of 1978 was chosen for tSsv1' ionLwide television hookup for
typical Fourth of July observances . Tens of thousands have
lined the Greeley streets for the parades .
As the rodeo and fair grew at Greeley, I was a Fourth
of July rodeo seat buyer for 40 years . My brother Ralph was
my guest for 30 of them.
It is natural that Greeley should have the outstanding
regional county fairs and also the Independence Stampede and
parades . The site of Greeley was in the middle of the cattle
range when the union colony was located here in 1870. The
settlers had to build a fence around the cultivated fields and
gardens to keep range cattle off the crops . That fence was
along Union Canal No. 2 on the North and 16th St . at 8th Ave .
on the South.
The big houses of early Greeley were largely built by
men with cattle ranches . J. L. Brush , Ben H. Eaton, C.
Emerson, B. D. Harper, S. D. Hunter, Bruce F. Johnson, P. W.
Putnam, Asa Sterling, Gene Thayer , Dave and Moss Wyatt were
among these early cattle ranchers .
Rodeos came with the cattle men north from Texa� in
the 1850 ' s and 60 ' s . As the herd' s rivers across Colorado had
roundups , towns began to feature riding and roping as holiday
sports .
With my father and mother , David and Christian Kelly, we
five children were given a ride "over the hill" to Evans on the
Page 5
Fourth of July 1890 to the first rodeo . Performers were such
rugged cowboys as Kingsbury, McMillen, Chuck Pearson and
Cony Travis .
Of Weld County' s 2 ,500 ,000 total acres , about 400 ,000
are irrigated. The remainder are cattle ranches and dry land
farms mostly wheat farms . Those people and those from
neighboring counties and adjoining states visit our Independ-
ence Day Stampede and our regionally largest county fairs in
early August . Cheyenne ' s , "Daddy of Them All" Frontier Days
held in late July began 80 yea s ago . It ' s top hands are
ilco
friendly to our celebration , advertises -cf° '
So a grateful salute to those who are here and those
who are gone of our City Councils , County Commissioners , Weld
County fair and Independence Day workers . And thanks for the
comprehension of our County Commissioners for the original and
modern reconstructed grandstand. It is well that the city had
substantial fire insurance to stand part of the reconstruction
cost . The boy_ who set the fire was too young to be charged
with/ t(C
A welcome tts
our visiting neighbors .�
�So we say great to be at Greeley, Weld County ,
Color//adJJ
1,11-1%�J li/I� L Q l- y
William R. Kelly i-
Attorney of Weld County, 1921 to 1925
Now Long Retired
Bonnel Retirement Center
June 4 , 1979
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