Dignitaries, county and city employees, construction partners, members of the community, and the media were all in attendance on Wednesday, June 1 when County Commissioner Pete Olsen led the dedication ceremony of the new Rafter 3C Arena located at the Fairgrounds and thanked all those involved for their efforts in making the arena a reality.
Mayor Ken Tedford presented the county with a proclamation declaring the arena officially open, and County Manager Jim Barbee presented plaques to all those who made the new arena a possibility for the community, from elected officials to employees to contractors. Besides expressing their gratitude to all those involved, both gentlemen also provided their insights for the arena’s future.
Barbee said, “This is much more than what we envisioned, and something that evolved along the way. If you go into the office for Parks and Rec and look up, you can see a rendering of the original indoor arena that they were looking at in the 1980s or so. I feel that was the start of the vision, and we added a flavor of Winnemucca and Klamath Falls to start this project off. When you approach this building, you see that it’s something completely different. It’s not a government building, it feels like a venue. That was our final vision, and I think we accomplished that.”
For Barbee, one of the highlights has been the partnership between the county and the city as he acknowledged that the arena will benefit both. He said the mayor was “at the table” involved in conversations about the arena throughout the pandemic, and the city has made investments in the project through its marketing and support efforts.
Mayor Tedford had no reservations about jumping on board with the project. “I give great credit to the county for their vision. It was a long time coming, and necessary out here. It’s a great boon to the community, and it put a lot of local people to work when they weren’t working. Using local contractors was great for us. Now our part is to market this facility as much as possible. We are heavily invested in the first rodeo that will be here in a couple of weeks which will also be on national television. That’s how we help, and it’s a boon to hotels, restaurants, and gas stations so we’ve been on board since the beginning. We’ve lost many events in the past because we didn’t have a venue like this, but now we do and we’re fortunate that the county stepped up and did what they did. It took a lot of courage.”
Olsen discussed some of the events that have been enticed to come to Fallon because of the new venue. “We’re looking at a twofold thing here. From one side, it’s the local community and the benefit to them. We have events like the Vintage Market, the Cantaloupe Festival, and the Junior Livestock Show that we’ve always had here, and now we can augment and improve them. Then there’s the pay-for part with events like the Battle Born Broncs and the Rockabilly Riot. Six events just in June. That’s the whole economic side, it’s the pay-for that goes back into the community that drives economic vitality, provides jobs and a better place to live. It’s an awesome facility.”
Fallon Churchill Economic Development Executive Director Bruce Breslow said, “It’s another tool in the toolbox and t’s a big shiny tool. For us, we’ll get event promoters from all over the west coast, and each has their own niche from sports tournaments and concerts, there are about 132 different groups that can use this venue. We may want to start to plan for new hotel rooms now, as it takes a while and you have to do your due diligence. Right now, we only have 502 rooms available. There is a formula, and that formula leads to how many tiers of hotels to have.
The $14 million investment for the arena came together from $9 million in bonds, $180,000 in COVID relief funds and the remainder from the county’s general fund. The return on that investment will be in the form of the revenue stream generated by events held there. The arena is currently booked through the end of November, with reservations on the books for 2023 as well.
The arena was built under emergency declaration during the pandemic, relieving it from having to go to the Commissioners for a vote to go forward. Back then, county staff was working out in the cold to perform COVID tests and administer vaccinations. Ultimately, the Commissioners voting is representative of the community, it’s the model of representative government.
For kids in the community, they won’t be able to say there’s nothing to do anymore, as there’s an event at the Rafter 3C Arena almost every weekend throughout the summer and beyond with much more to come.
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