The Caldwell Night Rodeo took down its announcer box last Monday, Nov. 18, to make way for a new one. Coinciding with the rodeo’s centennial, the demolition kicked off a multi-year series of renovations to accommodate the size of the fan base.
“Capacity’s an issue. For the last few years, there have been conversations — do we look to move, how do we face the expansion issue?” Kendra Dustin, the rodeo’s capital campaign manager, said. “Part of the heritage of the rodeo is that it is in the heart of Caldwell. Leaving and going to a different property was not an option.”
Besides the announcer box — which, unlike its predecessor, will be air-conditioned — and six sky boxes on the north side, the rodeo plans to add an elevator, a skywalk and hundreds of new seats with at least 20 sky boxes on the east and west sides. Those on the east side will have a view which can be used to watch College of Idaho football games at the neighboring Simplot Stadium.
“Instead of putting up scaffolds every year, we want something permanent,” the rodeo’s board president, Edward Lodge, said. “We literally build those [scaffolds] every year, and then we have to take it down.”