Fort Worth Stock Show goers and steers can expect to spend their future winter competitions in a freshly renovated Will Rogers Coliseum.
On Aug. 26, the Fort Worth City Council approved $28.6 million to modernize the historic landmark, contributing to a yearslong $50.5 million effort to renovate the Will Rogers Memorial Center.
Will Rogers is the historic home of the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The 90-year-old coliseum hosted events ranging from bull riding to concerts to circuses to boxing matches.
The city’s funds will go to preserving the coliseum while updating amenities, including its restrooms, HVAC system, food facilities and electrical system.
“It’s a pretty extensive facelift for the building,” said Mike Crum, director of the Fort Worth Public Events Department.
The money — which will be doled out over the next four years — comes in part from hotel tax revenue in the Culture and Tourism Fund. Another $12.5 million for the project is being reallocated from other memorial center renovations.
Event Facilities Fort Worth Inc., a nonprofit supporting organization for the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, is chipping in $5 million.
“Our visitors are paying for this project, and this project will enable the coliseum to keep on attracting visitors to our community,” Crum said.
The renovations continue recent efforts to revitalize the entire Will Rogers Memorial Center by the time it turns 100 in 2036, Crum said. The center reopened in late 2024 with updated sheep and swine barns. In the last five years, it also saw improvements to its poultry building and cattle barns.
Matt Carter, president of the stock show and rodeo, said in a statement that keeping costs low while ensuring renovations will complement future improvements were top priorities. The coliseum is in its first phase of projects that will take place over the next 11 years.
Will Rogers generates more than $217 million annually for the local economy, Carter said, describing it as the “epicenter of the Western equestrian competitive world.”
Dickies Arena, which opened in November 2019, neighbors Will Rogers and also hosts stock show events and other acts.
The coliseum has been closed since March for renovation work and is expected to reopen mid-November through mid-December, Crum said.
Nine decades of heavy use, foot traffic and hoof traffic created the need for improvements, stock show officials have said.
Carter remembers being 8 years old, coming to Fort Worth from Amarillo, and visiting the stock show with his father and grandfather. He recalled sitting in the coliseum and watching a rodeo, then getting his first-ever boot shine in the hall outside.
Will Rogers is “part of Fort Worth’s DNA,” Crum said, adding that it’s worth investing in.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or @shawlings601.
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