PIERCE COLLEGE : Rodeo May Have to Leave Stadium

The Pierce College Intercollegiate Rodeo may be moved from Shepard Stadium, where it has been held for 31 years, because of improvements to the football field.

College officials have suggested that next year’s event, expected to attract thousands of spectators, take place in the rodeo team’s practice arena. The 36th annual rodeo is scheduled for May 8 and 9.

“They didn’t say we definitely couldn’t use the stadium, but it looks like that’s what will happen,” said Ronald Wechsler, associate professor of animal science and adviser to the rodeo team.

Before football season, the college had the football field crowned, an undertaking that cost about $32,000 and involved moving hundreds of tons of dirt, said Marian E. McWilliams, Pierce’s athletic director.

To accommodate the rodeo, the field would have to be plowed. The plowing, combined with the activity during the two-day event, would alter the field’s new crown, McWilliams said.

But the practice arena at the northwest corner of the campus lacks the facilities found at the stadium, Wechsler said. The toughest difficulty to remedy is seating.

Last year’s rodeo drew a two-day crowd of between 10,000 and 12,000 spectators and grossed about $50,000, Wechsler said. Based on these figures, he has estimated that 4,500 seats will be needed for next year’s event.

The seating could either be rented for $21,600 or the college could refurbish and relocate some bleachers from Los Angeles City College at a cost of about $30,000, Wechsler said. The seating would be paid for with proceeds from the rodeo.

Wechsler said that within Pierce’s Master Plan, a document that outlines the direction of the college, a proposed 2,000-seat covered arena would be the site of future rodeos.