EXPO CENTER TOHAVE NEWARENA BY 2025
TAYLOR — Home to many events drawing people from across the Austin metroplex, the Williamson County Expo Center is entering a new, multimilliondollar growth phase, officials said.
To create another event space, the Outdoor Arena will be covered and expanded to 175 feet by 450 feet and include restrooms, showers and a gravel parking lot.
“I see the Expo Center as such an incredible asset that the county has continuously invested in,” Precinct 4 County Commissioner Russ Boles said.
“It’s something, with more facilities, allows us to have more events, bigger events.
… With the bigger events, we get more people into Taylor, but it also allows us the opportunity to come together as a community.”
General Manager Jason Brown anticipates the new arena to be complete in late 2025 or early 2026. Development may then turn to building two picnic pavilions south of the recreational vehicle park.
“The growth of the arenas means that they (the Expo Center) see that opportunity for their own growth and for the growth of the events out there,” Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce President Tia Rae Stone said.
The Capitol Area Quarter Horse Association regularly holds at least one of its four annual shows at the center. With more facilities coming, the association is interested in holding additional events at the center.
“We’re really looking forward to the new construction,” CAQHA board member Janine Hess said at the association’s show Aug. 3. “There’s going to be, like, double sets of activities under cover, which is going to be great. I think we might be having all of our shows … here next year.”
With funds from a $59 million park bond approved in 2023, these developments are expected to cost $12.2 million. In addition, there are plans to upgrade the Indoor Expo Hall’s audiovisual technology for $500,000, according to county officials.
The current development is the fifth phase the center has had since it opened in 2015. All developments have been led by the center’s almost decade-old master plan and funded by previous voter-approved bonds.
“I think (the community has) been supportive because they’ve approved the park bonds,” county Parks Director Russell Fishbeck said. “That is the first indication that the community is supportive of what we’re doing and proposing to do.”
Past developments include adding the west-side concession stand and restrooms to the Main Arena and building the Indoor Expo Hall and offices in 2016; building the RV park in 2019; building the Pavilion (stall barns) and adding the east-side concession stand in 2020; and widening the Main Arena to include box seats, adding new tarmac and repairing roof damages from Winter Storm Uri in 2022.
These initiatives took an estimated $22 million from previous park bonds to complete.
With each development, the center has seen a steady increase in event bookings. In 2020, the center had 88 days booked and is projecting 159 booked days this year, county officials said.
“Look at our attendance numbers and in the events and the size of the events, and they just kind of keep coming,” Boles said. “They just kind of keep getting bigger and better, and I think that gives us just such great opportunities.”
The upcoming arena would add another boost to the Expo Center’s booking rate as turnaround times would have less effect on availability. Currently, organizers cannot book within three to four days of other events.
“The second arena … allows the events to run smoother,” Boles said. “They don’t have to break down one arena before moving to a different activity. And so, once you make these investments, it kind of exponentially helps the events out there.”
With a large equine and agricultural community in the area, the center’s dirt quality in the main arena is what keeps riders and ranchers coming back. For a barrel-race organization like Go Fast Races, dirt quality is especially important to prevent injuries.
“They have maintained the dirt to the degree that it needs to be long-term,” said Mitzi Angelle, co-founder of the organization.
Go Fast Races has utilized the Expo Center since 2017. Before then, the center was not suitable for barrel racers due to the rocks mixed into the dirt at the time. During the 2016 arena development, the dirt improved and stayed high-quality thanks to hired consultants and specialized equipment, Angelle said.
“When you got $100,000-plus horses, they’re not gonna run on rock. They’re gonna get hurt,” she said. “Dirt is the number one priority of any barrel racing function.”
Animal-focused events, such as equine competitions, the Taylor Rodeo and Williamson County Livestock Show, coupled with shows and banquets held in the Indoor Expo Hall, have brought thousands of visitors to Taylor.
In addition to the Taylor Area Rodeo Association and others, the Central Texas Dressage Society also holds events there.
“Those people presumably go to eat here, go shop here, get their gasoline here. That economic impact becomes substantial,” Stone said. “It exposes them to Taylor, and we get to reap the benefits of their tourism dollars.”
In addition to the Expo Center, the Samsung Austin Semiconductor facility has contributed to the city’s growth. The company has also utilized the Expo Center to hold job fairs, meetings and luncheons.
“Samsung is going to bring in business and activity to the area,” Boles said. “I think that creates people looking to have activities and functions.”
Expo Center management is not sure what’s next after the current development plans are complete, but officials said they will see where things go and listen to the public’s ideas.
“I can tell there’s an appetite to keep building,” Brown said. “They’re liking what we’re doing here.”
Stone would like to see the Indoor Expo Hall have small breakout rooms for use during conferences.
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