Today, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is announcing its multi-million dollar plans to expand its blueprint by an additional 1 million square feet. The annual show’s main events – the rodeo and Star Entertainers – will remain at Reliant Park, but several others will move to the yet-to-be-built massive complex nearby.
That complex along Texas 288 between Reed Road and Airline, will house “the horse show, some livestock shows, junior and open breeding shows, archery competitions, agricultural mechanics, commercial auctions and educational contests, including 4-H and intercollegiate planning,” the HLSR announced.
“We’re replacing the arena that we use at the park and moving it [to the complex,]” said Chris Boleman, HLSR president and CEO.
Instead of being restricted to a little over a month of operations from mid-February through March, HLSR will be able to use its 350-acre campus to have youth shows throughout the year and even serve as a small concert venue in the $300 million project, Boleman said.
“This is the largest investment for youth livestock and horse shows that we’ve ever done,” he told the Houston Press. “Because of our ownership of this property, it allows us 11 months of activation of other activities.”
All this will be accomplished, he said, without costing taxpayers any money and without diverting any funds away from the youth scholarships the livestock show and rodeo gives out every year.
“This project is being funded by the rodeo,” Boleman said. “It is zero taxpayer dollars.”
Still to be worked out: how attendees will get from Reliant Park over to the new complex which can be as much as two or three miles away depending on where you’re starting from and where you’re going. That may be solved by a shuttle system, Boleman said.
“We will definitely ramp up and beef up transportation to and from the two facilities,” Boleman said. “Right now at this property we are already parking a number of cars. That’s where Rodeo Express actually shuttles people back and forth now. We have a couple of years to figure that out.”
Their goal is to have everything in place by March 2029 when that year’s HLSR opens its doors.
“There’s still going to be youth exhibitors at Reliant Park,” Boleman stressed. The animal birthing area will remain at Reliant Center and they won’t be doing anything different that might disrupt the very popular mutton busting, he said.
“We don’t want to take away, it’s very critical that we don’t take away, what’s happening at the park. We know that’s a good experience. We want to add value at the other facility.”
Right now the HLSR is working out a lease agreement with Harris County for its use of Reliant Park. The other tenant is, of course, the Houston Texans who have announced their own plans to set up a practice facility on 83 acres in Cypress northwest Harris County. The Texans also plan to open in 2029.
HLSR started in the ‘90s buying property nearby “and we just continued to buy it over time” Boleman said. It has been used for parking for exhibitors, athletes (both human and animal) and vendors but it has never been used for programming.
In 2019, the HLSR’s Executive Board, with input from several of the volunteer committee leaders, concluded that they needed to build more for the next generation, Boleman says. Those plans involved were put on hold a bit when COVID intervened, but everyone involved knew that changes needed to be made.
Not only was it getting more difficult to schedule everything, but Reliant Arena, built in the ‘70s, has, according to Wesley Sinor, HLSR chairman of the board, “reached the end of its useful life.”
Right now, they don’t know if the county will maintain the park arena or remove the building, Boleman said. If it is retained, HLSR might decide to program it in a new way, he said. If no longer there, Boleman said, “We can spread out.”
Adding their own large complex will allow them to start a couple of weekends earlier with the horse show, Boleman said. The 4-H archery competition takes up a lot of space, which has made it a little tricky to find space for, he said. Also, they will have their own home for committee meetings that take place throughout the year.
The plans include:
- Two large barns (~860,000 SF)
- Central building (~140,000 SF) Totaling: 1,000,000 SF Air-conditioned space
- Outdoor covered cattle yard (~105,000 SF)
-The space includes new auction hall/sales pavilion (seats ~2,000)
-Total Arena Area will include roughly 5,000 seats which includes arena seating and club seats. The arena can also be used for additional events and concerts. Those type of events will seat roughly 2,000 more people. (These numbers are an estimate and subject to change)
“This really is an expansion of what we’re doing that we hope adds value without sacrificing anything,. That’s our goal,” Boleman said.
“I think that this is literally a one-of-a-kind type of facility. It leads into our next 100 years. “
