(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(a) The national western stock show has been held annually in Denver for one hundred nine years, and it provides many important benefits to the state because it:
Is a showcase event for the western agricultural industry and related industries thatpromotes, supports, and helps to preserve the rural western lifestyle in our increasingly urbanized society and provides opportunities for dissemination of agricultural industry innovations and best practices locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally;
Funds scholarships for students studying agriculture, rural medicine, and veterinaryscience at institutions of higher education in the state and in Wyoming; and
Has an estimated annual economic impact to the state of about one hundred fifteenmillion dollars, hosting more national-level competitions than any other regional venue, and is considered one of the largest annual agricultural conventions and trade shows in the United States;
(b) It is important to sustain and grow the national western stock show in Denver for the next one hundred years so that the state can continue to realize the benefits that it provides and additional benefits estimated to accrue from its transformational redevelopment, which include but are not limited to:
The significant economic benefit to the state that will result from the redevelopmentand transformation of the site; and
The following significant economic impacts, which an economic analysis by strategic advisory group estimates, of developing the Colorado state university facilities at the national western center based upon the current ten-year build-out of the site without the use of lease-purchase agreements:
An additional one hundred million dollars in economic impact to the state, which thecenter will generate upon completion;
An increase to over two million two hundred thousand in total attendance annually;
Nine hundred sixty thousand five hundred new visitors annually, forty percent ofwhom will come from outside of Colorado;
Three thousand nine hundred twenty construction jobs; and
Five billion nine hundred million dollars in net new visitor spending over thirtyyears;
The existing grounds and facilities where the national western stock show is held arecurrently difficult to access, poorly integrated with surrounding neighborhoods, and functionally limited;
In order to ensure that the national western stock show can remain and thrive inDenver for the foreseeable future, and that additional, broad-based benefits of year-round activity can be realized, the national western stock show, the city and county of Denver, Colorado state university, the Denver museum of nature and science, and history Colorado formed the national western center partnership;
The purpose of the national western center partnership is to redevelop and betterintegrate with surrounding neighborhoods the existing one hundred thirty acres of land on and near the existing site of the Denver coliseum and national western stock show grounds and to build and operate a new two-hundred-seventy-acre state-of-the-art, multi-purpose national western center to:
House the national western stock show;
Serve as a hub for year-round creative, P-20 experiential educational, research andcommercial activity that promotes, supports, and helps to preserve the western lifestyle while highlighting innovation and global issues of health, food systems, food security, water, and the environment; and
Provide an attractive environment for additional agricultural business and scienceinvestments that will increase other economic and workforce development activity in the surrounding neighborhoods, encourage the revitalization of those neighborhoods, and position the state as an agricultural innovations cluster leader; and
(f) At least twenty-four front range cities and towns already support the development of the national western center.
(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that:
Agriculture is a forty-two billion dollar per year industry in the state, agriculturalinnovation has been growing at a rate that is four times the overall state economic growth rate, and agriculture continues to drive economic growth as a major driver of technological advancement, patent development, and entrepreneurship, much of which has global applicability;
Colorado ranked third in the nation in federal spending on agricultural research anddevelopment in 2011, with much of the funding being directed to universities and United States department of agriculture laboratories on the front range;
The involvement of Colorado state university at the national western center is a critical element of continued growth in agricultural innovation because it will create research and development opportunities, showcase Colorado's innovation economy on national and international stages, and create public-private partnerships with major industries that will advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and have significant economic and scientific impact;
As Colorado's land-grant university, a substantial part of Colorado state university'seducational mission is to provide agriculture-related research, education, and outreach and support Colorado's agricultural industry, and it does so by:
Offering a wide variety of highly respected agriculture-related undergraduate and graduate degree programs;
Operating several research centers and institutes and a veterinary teaching hospital;and
Providing accurate and unbiased information to the public regarding agriculture,gardening, nutrition, and natural resources-related topics through Colorado state university extension and its programs;
In furtherance of its mission as Colorado's land-grant university and one of the nation's premier agricultural and veterinary institutions, Colorado state university's focus at the national western center will be to advance academic, research, and outreach initiatives related to the state's broad-based economy in agriculture, food systems, health, and western culture, but it will not issue undergraduate or graduate academic degrees from the national western center;
The national western center master plan provides for an integrated facilities programthat includes a variety of facilities for Colorado state university, including an equine sports medicine clinic, a collaborative community outreach veterinary clinic and clinical trials center, a water resources center, and a Colorado state university center that may include: a food systems innovation and learning center; a Denver urban extension center; an educational urban farm with demonstration fields; classrooms; laboratories; a test kitchen and administrative space; and other facilities that are consistent with the national western center master plan vision and guiding principles that may be added as the site develops. In addition, the national western center needs support from and integration with Colorado state university's on-campus programs that support the national western center vision and proposed activities, including teaching, research, and outreach. An on-campus equine veterinary teaching hospital, the Malone center for biologic and translational therapies, and the anatomy teaching laboratory expansion or other facilities that are supportive of activity at the national western center as the site develops will be critically connected to the national western center project.
At full build-out of the two-hundred-seventy-acre national western center, there willbe abundant opportunities for complementary co-location to advance food production, food safety, animal health, nutrition, natural resource conservation, and a broad range of related agricultural industries, resulting in estimated direct employment of six thousand people and indirect employment of an additional ten thousand people;
The national western center's centralized location relative to the state's main population centers and its relationship to the state's greatest concentration of agricultural production, commodity processing, and food manufacturing to the north, including but not limited to the availability of a skilled workforce pipeline and proximity to several public and private universities, will help it drive future agricultural innovations; and
It is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interests of the state to authorize the state,acting by and through the state treasurer, to enter into lease-purchase agreements for the purpose of providing financing for the construction of facilities for Colorado state university at the national western center and on-campus affiliated facilities, and such financing is contingent upon approval, through established state executive and legislative branch capital construction project review and approval processes, of specific projects to be financed and the voters of the city and county of Denver approving an extension of the lodging and car rental taxes or another similar tax, which would generate necessary funding for the national western center. Further, it is in the best interests of the state to accelerate the development of the Colorado state university educational facilities resulting in the following economic benefits to the state:
The state will realize the economic impact of the national western center sooner;
Overall facility costs will be reduced if design and construction is started sooner; and
Overall facility costs will also be reduced by taking advantage of historically lowinterest rates that are currently available.
Source: L. 2015: Entire part added, (HB 15-1344), ch. 207, p. 746, § 1, effective August 5.