The “World’s First Rodeo” will have a new look this year as Reeves County officials announced important upgrades Thursday, June 4, to Buck Jackson Arena in Pecos.
An improved VIP section that holds about 300 seats highlights some of the upgrades Reeves County made before this year’s West of the Pecos Rodeo, which runs from 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 24-27.
“We had a lot of stuff done to that arena,” Clay Ryon McKinney, chairman of the volunteer committee that produces the annual rodeo, said. “Of course, we’ve got new VIP boxes above the bucking chutes. I was told it will hold over 300 people — I think our old one seated about 65, so that’s a big jump. It will have its own bar, and there will be restrooms up there.”
Other improvements include a transformation of the west end of the facility, updated livestock pens, improved bucking chutes and return alley, new timed-event boxes and chute, updated medicine area and locker room and a state-of-the-art press box.
“With that, we’ve got a brand-new press box that’s state-of-the-art,” McKinney said. “It will have central AC and heat. It will be nice for the people that work up there, like our music director and video crews that have equipment that works best in a more temperature-controlled environment.
“Everything from the bucking chutes and roping boxes back to the front entrance was completely torn out and rebuilt. We’ve got brand new bucking chutes with a center return gate so that we can have left- and right-handed deliveries. We’ve got new roughstock holding pens, arrow sorting pens, and Priefert-designed bucking chutes and roping boxes.”
While the rodeo is the beneficiary, Reeves County has handled most of the work. The changes, though, meant demolition for the main building that has served as an announcer’s stand and temporary training room.
“It was a little sad to see some of that stuff torn down, but the way this rodeo growing and the plans we have for it in the future, everything’s moving more that way,” McKinney said. “We’re keeping up with the times, and it’s really going to be nice to have an updated, state-of-the-art facility. In that building, there is a cowboy locker room and sports medicine room that’s completely air-conditioned and heated and has showers, bathrooms and everything else.
“Aesthetically, it just fits the arena now with all the upgrades on the new grandstands. We’ll have new equipment that will make things smoother and will benefit our rodeo as a whole.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Pecos rodeo arena gets major upgrades for fans
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times | USA TODAY Network
