Crook County Fair Board, Crooked River Roundup clash over contract terms
Tracee Tuesday
PRINEVILLE, Ore. {KTVZ} — The Crook County Fair Board held its regularly scheduled meeting Monday night in Prineville.
One of the big topics on the agenda was the fair’s contract with the Crooked River Roundup (CRR). The CRR Board says they’re not happy with their current short-term contract. Their deal with the fair for the 2025 rodeo and race season was set at $25,000. Doug Smith, CRR’s Race Chair, argued that they bring in major revenue to the fairgrounds — pointing to investments like $500,000 spent on a jockey room — and say the contract doesn’t reflect their role. Here’s what CRR’s Board of Directors want:
a 20-year contract that addresses key concerns, that includes flexibility to renegotiate project costs
Rent tied to profits rather than automatic increases
Help from Crook County with possible grandstand upgrades.
They’d also like the fairgrounds to share some of the grant funding it receives for facility improvements.
The Fair Board, however, says it needs profits to maintain the fairgrounds itself — things like upgraded bathrooms — and insists that changes should be made only within the current contract. Smith says that’s exactly the problem, calling the deal too strict and inflexible. While the Fair Board acknowledged the CRR is a significant revenue source, however, at this time, they are only prepared to review the current contract and go from there.
The Fair Board also decided to continue the discussion during a special public meeting scheduled for October 1st at 5:30 PM. KTVZ News will be there to bring you the outcome.