Cheyenne Frontier Days won't pursue horse racing at Frontier Park

Neighbors of the park are pleased with the decision after they initially felt blindsided by CFD’s intent to bring horse racing to the park.

“We think it’s the right decision,” said Larry Wolfe, a resident of the surrounding neighborhood representing Citizens Against Horse Racing @ Frontier Park, an informal organization of more than 50 residents. “We don’t think that horse racing belongs at CFD. We’re glad that CFD leadership has agreed with that.”

“Activism is not dead,” said Peg Ostlund, another representative of Citizens Against Horse Racing @ Frontier Park. “Truly, my heart is warmed.”

Although Hirsig described the deal with Accel as a once-in-a-lifetime financial opportunity, he said it is more important to maintain the CFD brand. He estimates that CFD will need more than $150 million over the next 20 years to maintain and upgrade Frontier Park facilities, and he isn’t sure that an opportunity like this will come again.

“At the end of the day, our brand is more important to us than any financial contribution,” Hirsig said. “This was just an opportunity that was presented that was really going to help us meet those needs through the private sector, instead of asking taxpayers to help fund this.”

He said he believes that the venue may be the only one of its size that is privately funded and not subsidized with taxpayer dollars. Hirsig said he will continue to seek revenue opportunities to improve the facilities.

“They’re competing with other entities across the country, and all of those other entities are subsidized,” said Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins. “The facilities are paid for by the taxpayers.

{span}”Cheyenne Frontier Days is a very important part of our history. It’s also a very important part of our social fabric, and it’s also a very important part of our economic development.”

CFD has a $40 million annual impact on the local economy, and Collins said it is important to have a conversation about how the community can continue to support the organization. He commended CFD and its board for listening to the community and its decision.“The fact that CFD looked at all of the good things that were going to come from this and then listened to what was going on with the neighbors and thinking about their brand, made a decision that they think is best for that neighborhood that they live and work in,” he said. “I think it speaks pretty highly of CFD.”

For Wolfe and his group, they hope this decision inspires more dialogue between the neighborhood and CFD. Wolfe said they hear about plans but never know much about the specifics of how changes may impact the park, the neighborhood or traffic.

Although this is the decision Wolfe was hoping for, two issues remain for him. First is how Frontier Park is managed and the governmental decision-making process.

The park is subleased to CFD by the Joint Powers Board, a governmental body that represents both the city and county, and the city of Cheyenne has the right to review any transfers of its rights. Wolfe said he believes the city should be more involved in decisions that are made at Frontier Park. In an opinion submitted to city and county officials, Wolfe, who is also a Cheyenne-based attorney, alleged that the Joint Powers Board is not in compliance with state transparency laws.

“This needs to be the opening of opportunity to have further discussions with CFD, and also for the city and the county to reexamine their relationship with CFD,” Wolfe said. “One of the things that we argued in the legal opinion is that the Joint Powers Board ought to be reformatted and reframed.”Corey Rutledge, another representative of Citizens Against Horse Racing @ Frontier Park, corroborated Wolfe’s concerns and described the situation as a wake-up call.

“We’re hoping that this was a lesson learned, and that Mayor Collins would be in agreement that we need to be more on top of appropriate governmental responses and involvement before such an undertaking is considered,” Rutledge said.

Collins said that he isn’t aware of any existing legal concerns, but it is something that may be worth investigating.

“To this point, I haven’t had any concerns about [CFD’s] stewardship of [Frontier Park],” Collins said. “However, if there’s something that we need to do differently from a legal perspective, we’re obviously going to look into that.”

Wolfe’s other concern is with communication. He said he would like to see a more organized dialogue between CFD and the community.

“There just was no communication,” Rutledge said in agreement. “It felt to the residents very close to the park like this was done quickly and secretively.”

While the nearby residents are pleased with the decision, they feel there is still more work to be done.

{div}{p class=”x_elementToProof”}{span}“Our doors are always open to the neighborhood and the community,” Hirsig said. “We’re always willing to talk to our neighbors.”