Telluride to angle for 2013 Pro Cycling spot
Officials aren’t as keen about it this year
By Katie Klingsporn
Editor
Telluride will throw its name into the host city hat for the 2013 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, but with pressing capital projects, other expenses on the horizon and weaker expectations for getting selected, the town council has less enthusiasm for the event than last year.
The Telluride Town Council decided in a 4-3 split on Tuesday to go ahead with a proposal for the host city spot. Proposals are due in the second week of November.
Council members all said that the race was a tremendous event that was well organized and pulled off skillfully. But with some big expenditures on the horizon, they weren’t as keen to hosting in 2013 as they were a year ago.
Telluride will throw its name into the host city hat for the 2013 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, but with pressing capital projects, other expenses on the horizon and weaker expectations for getting selected, the town council has less enthusiasm for the event than last year.
The Telluride Town Council decided in a 4-3 split on Tuesday to go ahead with a proposal for the host city spot. Proposals are due in the second week of November.
Council members all said that the race was a tremendous event that was well organized and pulled off skillfully. But with some big expenditures on the horizon, they weren’t as keen to hosting in 2013 as they were a year ago.
“I think there’s a lot of things on our plate that are going to be bigger and better investments for our town, not to mention the necessities that we need to come up with,” said council member Bob Saunders.
The town spent approximately $92,000 on hosting the stage 1 finish of the race, according to a town memo.
A great deal of energy was put into securing a host city spot on the 2012 seven-day stage race. Regional officials put together a website complete with a video as part of their proposal. And when it was announced that Telluride had landed a spot, the news was widely celebrated by officials and citizens from the region.
Telluride, Mountain Village, local lodgers and other regional entities spent a great deal of time and significant amount of money working out logistics and preparing for the crush of media, racers and spectators expected during the race.
When the race flashed through Telluride on Aug. 20, it brought a thrilling sporting event. Riders climbed 125 miles from Durango and over Lizard Head Pass before sprinting into Telluride and hurtling westward down Colorado Avenue in front of a roaring crowd.
But in the wake of the event, it became clear that the crowd of 20,000 that organizers had prepared for failed to materialize, and many local restaurants and business owners reported that the event didn’t bring them a boost.
Council member Thom Carnevale said that following the race, he got a lot of emails and phone calls from the local business community. Many businesses put extra employees on, bumped up their inventory and braced for a crush of customers that never came, he said.
Carnevale said that while he really enjoyed watching the race, he’s not sure that the benefits outweighed the costs, and the town should put its focus now on the hefty financial issues it faces. The town plans to help pay for the enclosure of the Hanley Pavilion in 2013 as well as foot a big chunk of the bill for the construction of a new roundabout at Society Turn, and officials recently discovered they are about $5 million short of the money needed to finish the new Pandora Water Treatment system.
“As much as I enjoyed it … I just don’t think that going ahead with it when we have all these other obstacles in front of us is a good idea,” Carnevale said.
Brian Werner noted that many events see small turnouts in their first year and said the town can learn from the event and adjust to fit it better in the future. The media exposure locally, nationwide and internationally was huge, he said.
“I think it’s a great event for Colorado, and I’d like to see Telluride be a part of it,” he said.
Chris Myers also said he thought it was a remarkable event that aligned well with Telluride’s values, but he suggested that Telluride take a year off to step back and learn more about how to make it more successful in the future.
“I’m thinking a pause would be an opportunity to learn more,” he said.
Council member Ann Brady suggested that Telluride submit a proposal to keep its name in the minds of the race organizers, but not put a huge effort into it. She said she believes the race is going to move north and that Telluride won’t get a host spot this year anyway.
Mayor Stu Fraser, who sat on the local organizing committee, was in favor of submitting a proposal. He thinks that Telluride can learn a lot from the first race and find a way to tailor it better to the small town next time around, he said.
“I think we should show our desire to be in it for 2013,” he said.
In the end, Fraser, Werner, Brady and Kristen Permakoff were in favor of submitting a proposal, outnumbering Carnevale, Myers and Saunders.
Telluride Tourism Board President and CEO Michael Martelon said that they will basically spruce up last year’s proposal and resubmit it.
According to USA Pro Cycling Challenge, the 2012 race saw attendance numbers of more than 1 million over the course of seven days and brought an estimated economic impact of $99.6 million to the state of Colorado.
The town spent approximately $92,000 on hosting the stage 1 finish of the race, according to a town memo.
A great deal of energy was put into securing a host city spot on the 2012 seven-day stage race. Regional officials put together a website complete with a video as part of their proposal. And when it was announced that Telluride had landed a spot, the news was widely celebrated by officials and citizens from the region.
Telluride, Mountain Village, local lodgers and other regional entities spent a great deal of time and significant amount of money working out logistics and preparing for the crush of media, racers and spectators expected during the race.
When the race flashed through Telluride on Aug. 20, it brought a thrilling sporting event. Riders climbed 125 miles from Durango and over Lizard Head Pass before sprinting into Telluride and hurtling westward down Colorado Avenue in front of a roaring crowd.
But in the wake of the event, it became clear that the crowd of 20,000 that organizers had prepared for failed to materialize, and many local restaurants and business owners reported that the event didn’t bring them a boost.
Council member Thom Carnevale said that following the race, he got a lot of emails and phone calls from the local business community. Many businesses put extra employees on, bumped up their inventory and braced for a crush of customers that never came, he said.
Carnevale said that while he really enjoyed watching the race, he’s not sure that the benefits outweighed the costs, and the town should put its focus now on the hefty financial issues it faces. The town plans to help pay for the enclosure of the Hanley Pavilion in 2013 as well as foot a big chunk of the bill for the construction of a new roundabout at Society Turn, and officials recently discovered they are about $5 million short of the money needed to finish the new Pandora Water Treatment system.
“As much as I enjoyed it … I just don’t think that going ahead with it when we have all these other obstacles in front of us is a good idea,” Carnevale said.
Brian Werner noted that many events see small turnouts in their first year and said the town can learn from the event and adjust to fit it better in the future. The media exposure locally, nationwide and internationally was huge, he said.
“I think it’s a great event for Colorado, and I’d like to see Telluride be a part of it,” he said.
Chris Myers also said he thought it was a remarkable event that aligned well with Telluride’s values, but he suggested that Telluride take a year off to step back and learn more about how to make it more successful in the future.
“I’m thinking a pause would be an opportunity to learn more,” he said.
Council member Ann Brady suggested that Telluride submit a proposal to keep its name in the minds of the race organizers, but not put a huge effort into it. She said she believes the race is going to move north and that Telluride won’t get a host spot this year anyway.
Mayor Stu Fraser, who sat on the local organizing committee, was in favor of submitting a proposal. He thinks that Telluride can learn a lot from the first race and find a way to tailor it better to the small town next time around, he said.
“I think we should show our desire to be in it for 2013,” he said.
In the end, Fraser, Werner, Brady and Kristen Permakoff were in favor of submitting a proposal, outnumbering Carnevale, Myers and Saunders.
Telluride Tourism Board President and CEO Michael Martelon said that they will basically spruce up last year’s proposal and resubmit it.
According to USA Pro Cycling Challenge, the 2012 race saw attendance numbers of more than 1 million over the course of seven days and brought an estimated economic impact of $99.6 million to the state of Colorado.
For more information on this or Telluride area real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970.728.3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or visit www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment