Iron Horse Rally organizers look for new, private home

Iron Horse Rally organizers look for new, private home

November 27, 2001

By Brian Newsome
Durango Herald Staff Writer

Thousands of bikers will likely be meeting someplace other than the Sky Ute Events Center for the Four Corners Iron Horse Motorcycle Rally next year. But Ignacio is still a possible site.

There’s a 99 percent chance the rally will not be held on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation next year because of the cost, said Warren Bernard, rally-board president.

Bernard said the rally board is considering buying a parcel of land, although no purchase contract is imminent.

In Ignacio, the rally board is considering a plot of land at the edge of town owned by lifelong resident Jake Candelaria. Candelaria, 68, holds several pieces of land in the area, and said he supports selling property to the rally.

The site is located northwest of downtown near the Candelaria Heights subdivision, which Candelaria developed.

"I think that the rally, if this thing is approached right, can be beneficial to the whole area," he said.

Candelaria met with rally-board officials two weeks ago and said his property was one of three primary sites being considered. The other two were in the Hesperus area, he said. The board told him it would evaluate the three sites.

The issue was briefly discussed at an Ignacio Town Board meeting on Nov. 13, said Balty Quintana, town manager. Quintana said the proposed relocation "raises reasonable concern to the town board." He planned to meet with Ignacio law enforcement and the town board to discuss the ramifications of holding the rally off the reservation.

Town-board members could not be reached for comment Friday.

Candelaria said the comments he has received from Ignacio’s business district have been mostly positive. On the other hand, he expected opposition from residents living near the proposed site.

The rally, which has seen crowds of up to 30,000 people, has traditionally been held at the Sky Ute Events Center. But what Bernard referred to as "inadequate facilities" and a "topsy-turvy" situation prompted the board to look elsewhere.

The rally board approached Montezuma County officials a year ago about relocating to the county fairgrounds near Cortez for 2002, but county commissioners were cool to the idea. They said the rally, held Labor Day weekend, would offer more problems than benefits. Locals seemed evenly split on the idea, with many vehemently opposed.

While the rally has helped to fill hotels and restaurants, it has drawn objections from Sheriff Duke Schirard and others because of traffic fatalities, accidents and congestion, noise and lewd behavior.