My question is who is taking care of the Rodeo Arena and why did they let it get in that shape? does any one know?

I believe it is owned and operated by the Polk County Fair and Rodeo Association

Hello gap,
starbuck is correct, the PCFRA owns the rodeo arena. I have to agree with you, while the arena is functional, it is in dire need of a facelift!

Here's the story on the arena. It was built better than 40 years ago and is still pretty much the same as it was then. Many of the boards in the bleachers get replaced as they go bad each year before the rodeo by Fairboard Directors and their families...volunteers. For the past 4 or 5 years the grass was cut prior to arena functions by Fairboard Directors and their families....volunteers. The Fairboard utilizes the arena for 3 days out of the year for the annual Rodeo, the rest of the year, it's used almost daily by many members of the community. For some reason or another, these members of the community that use the arena on a regular basis, (for free by the way) have no time to pitch in with a little labor toward maintenance. After a few years the Fairboard Directors and their families, none of which ride horses or use the arena, started to get tired of the many hours of work cutting grass and weeds for a group of people that expect free use without putting anything back into it. Yes, I've mentioned fees in the past to help with the maintenance, but you'd think I'd just shot their horses by the look on their faces!

After I became President, we started something that's never been done before at the arena, and that is to allow usage of the arena lights, so riding can be done after dark when it's cooler. I calculated the cost of the lights at $10/hour as our cost and set that as the light fee to be paid on the honor system by those that use them. We take a beating on that too.

Many folks in the community don't seem to understand that for something to be "provided" like that usually means a Director(s) has to volunteer his time on the grounds manning some other function that generates revenue to pay for it. In other words.....if someone wants to ride in the arena, or wear out the bucking chutes bucking steers, or run a tank of water to water their horse, or use the lights for free......I or another Director has to work to pay for it.

Don't sound quite right does it? Don't to me. I believe something that's provided to the community should be taken care of and supported by those that use it for free.....that's the long and short of it.

Now, I want to add here that there is a new Junior Drill Team that's been formed and have begun to use the arena for their training and Playdays. They started off on the right foot by asking if they could do some mowing and trash gathering around the arena. They've put work into it on two different occasions and had their first official function tonight, I hope they did well, they've gotten off to a good start not only teaching their youngsters how to ride and care for their horses, but how to respect and appreciate the help and facilities provided by others for their enjoyment .

I hope this answers your question, thanks for asking.

Bill