History - Growth

In 1973, William Thayer Tutt, Russell Tutt (sons of Charles Leaming Tutt), Eugene McCleary, (the mayor of Colorado Springs), and Robert Norris (a prominent rancher) began the search for a new site.

McCleary quickly identified a new site for the stadium. There was land between 8th Street and 21st Street along Rio Grande that had been deeded to the City in December, 1926 by the Portland Mill. The Portland Mill had processed ore from Cripple Creek during the heyday of mining but had gone out of business as the mines shut down. The land was now owned by the City Utilities Department. It had been used as a landfill and local citizens also used it for a target shooting range.

In approximately 1902 the Portland Mill Gold Mining Corporation was opened up. The mill began processing low-grade ores brought down from the Cripple Creek Mining District. The mill was located on the north side of Bear Creek. It initially used a chlorination method for good recovery, but later switched to an experimental cyanide method in 1907 (Geo Trans, Inc., page 1.2) In 1918 the Portland Mill closed and was dismantled in 1920 (Geo Trans, Inc., page 1.2) While in operation, the Portland Mill had several structures, including a cyanide plant, roaster house, ore storage, concentration, chlorination, and precipitation buildings (see Picture 2, page 6).

Starting in 1926 through 1939 some of the tailings were reprocessed using an unspecific method of ore extraction (El Paso County, page 2). Sometime after that the site was used for a landfill for the city of Colorado Springs. After that in approximately 1939 and 1974 the site was then used as pasture and as an unofficial horseback riding area (El Paso County, page 2).

Between October 1973 and August, 1974, McCleary and his team together with the help of many friends, accomplished what seemed to be an impossible task. They cut the Will Rogers Stadium in sections and moved it, a piece at a time, to the new location. They also built the boarding barns. The city waived all of the red tape normally attendant on a move and relied entirely on the word of the promoters that the facility would conform to building code provisions. The reassembled Stadium was considerably smaller and the previously open end of the horseshoe was enclosed with a new entryway. It was re-named "Spencer Penrose Stadium" at that time.

The move was effected by a substantial financial contribution of some $1,250,000.00 from El Pomar Foundation together with substantially reduced fees by the contractors involved.

In 1975, CSRA assigned its lease to the El Paso County park and Recreation District.

In 1976, the County Commissioners created the El Paso County Park Division as part of the Department of Transportation. Oversight of the Stadium was ultimately delegated to a committee comprised of one Commissioner, the Director of Parks, one park advisory board member and a "knowledgeable" citizen.

However, by 1986, a number of problems had arisen in the operation of the facility. Its economic impact on the community was not large and the taxpayers were subsidizing the operation.

At the same time, some of the supporters of the Stadium approached then commissioner Loren Whittemore with complaints about the way the stadium was being used. They said the facility was under utilized and that it did not fully emphasize western heritage. This group of "ol cowboys" as Whittemore described them, proposed a Task Force to study the facility and make recommendations.

The Task Force, chaired by Wilton "Doc" Cogswell, undertook their duties with alacrity. They studied the potential economic impact of the facility on the local business economy; they examined its management and proposed radical changes; they researched and proposed expansion of the facility to accommodate additional users; they proposed budgetary changes; and they contacted a variety of organizations to see what changes should be made to the facility. (The two significant physical changes that resulted from the study were the addition of more show barns and construction of the indoor arena. Virtually every group contacted, including non-horse related groups, said that they needed a large, heated indoor facility.)

In the years following adoption of the Task Force recommendations, use of the facility has grown from fewer that 40 event days to more than 200 event days.

The stadium was built by Spencer Penrose as a means of bolstering the local economy during the depression. Economic impact was his primary concern and it was the primary concern of the 1986 Task Force that sought to revitalize the facility. Despite that all of the people involved may have had some motivation toward direct self-benefit, the overriding consideration has always been the benefit to the community in terms of jobs created by money drawn into the community.

We should also recognize that, when the stadium was built and helped to save the local economy, there was no reliance on the rodeo alone to draw people to the community. The attendant celebration was massive and included a buffalo barbecue, professionally staged shows including mock gunfights and hangings in downtown Colorado Springs, and a host of other events. Although this does not mean that we should downplay the importance of rodeos, it may however, suggest that our future depends more on other events as well. It may also tell us that rodeos need ancillary entertainment in order to maximize the benefit. We also know from surveys conducted by the Task Force that there are many organizations that would like to use the facility and public demand is high.