City approves new saddle club lease in Wadsworth Park
City Commissioners unanimously approved a new five-year lease for the Great Falls Saddle Club in Wadsworth Park during their Jan. 6 meeting.
The saddle club has leased space in the city-owned park since 1971 or 1979. Both years are mentioned in city commission agenda reports.
The new lease includes an annual $500 fee, the club is responsible for daily maintenance, an option to renew for another five years at the city’s discretion and both parties have the option to terminate the lease with 60 days written notice.
According to the Jan. 6 staff report provided by Park and Rec for commissioners, the department didn’t have staff or funding in 1979 to manage a community horseback riding range so city partnered with the saddle club, which has “provided a quality equestrian club and a reputation that the community has come to respect and rely on.”
Third Park and Rec mini-poll open on facility conditions, future needs
The staff report also noted that in 1998, commissioners adopted the Wadsworth Park master plan that included a recommendation that “all existing leases continue in Wadsworth Park, renewable on a year-to-year basis, until the city is ready to begin actual physical implementation of the master plan.”
Staff reported that there is no funding currently available for Wadsworth improvements.
The same notation was made in the commission agenda reports on renewing the saddle club’s lease in 2020, 2015, 2010 and 2006.
The rent was $375 annually in the 2020 and 2015 agreements. The 2006 agreement increased their rent from $250 to $375.
The Park and Recreation Advisory Board recommended approval of the lease during their Dec. 8 meeting.
Park and Rec crews repair River’s Edge Trail mudslide
During that meeting, staff told the board that the new lease included an increased rental rate and the club takes care of their leased area.
Staff said there had been no other community interest in leasing the saddle club’s area of the park.
During the Jan. 6 commission meeting, Benjamin Cipriano, who lives near Wadsworth, asked commissioners to deny the lease and restructure it to implement the master plan, which called for reducing the saddle club’s leased area. He said since improvements have occured in the park, the city should implement the master plan in phases and reconsider the saddle club’s lease.
Commissioner Rick Tryon moved to deny the agreement, but there was no second, killing the motion.
He then moved to approve the agreement, which Commissioner Shannon Wilson seconded.
Tryon said he wasn’t aware of the master plan recommendation to scale down the saddle club’s area.
Park and Rec fundraising for new Gibson Park trees; registration open for winter camp
Jessica Compton, interim Park and Rec director, said that all of the park upgrades Cipriano mentioned were done through donations and grants and none was city funded.
During the Jan. 12 Park and Rec board meeting, Compton and Kevin Vining, parks supervisor, said that the improvements recommended in the 1998 plan would cost an estimated $10 million today.
“We’re not able to fund upgrades at this time,” Compton told commissioners during the Jan. 6 meeting.
Tryon said he was inclined to deny a vote until they had more information.
Park and Rec director candidate declines job; city will readvertise position next year [2025]
Mayor Cory Reeves said he wanted it to move forward and Commissioner Joe McKenney said that the lease included a 60-day termination notice, so they could approve it, look into it further and terminate with 60-days notice if needed.
During the Jan. 12 Park and Rec board meeting, discussion of the Wadsworth master plan continued.
When the plan was adopted in 1998, no funding was identified to fund the recommended changes, so the plan wasn’t formally followed.
Vining said they have a number of plans about what could be done with parks, but without dedicated funding, they’re not implemented.
The 1998 plan included a recommendation to reduce and relocate the saddle club’s leased area to create a regional park including a soccer park.
City Commission to consider consultant contract for Park and Rec review [2025]
In November 2003, Great Falls voters approved a $2.5 million bond for construction of a soccer park and in June 2004, the city entered a lease agreement with Great Falls Public Schools for 30 acres for a dollar per year for 25 years for use as a soccer complex. The lease allowed the city to assign the lease or sublease the property, according to city documents.
It was anticipated at the time that the soccer complex would require about 60 acres for the construction of 10 soccer fields and in September 2003, the city commission approved the purchase of 37.6 acres at the southwest corner of the intersection of 10th Avenue North and 57th Street North. The acquisition combined with the leased GFPS land provided the necessary land for the soccer complex, according to city documents.
In 2009, commissioners approved a 25-year lease for $1 per year with the Great Falls Soccer Foundation for the soccer complex.
The city paid off the soccer park bond as of July 1, 2024.
City names new deputy manager; hiring for GFFR chief, Park and Rec director [2025]
During the Jan. 12 Park and Rec board meeting, the group reviewed the 1998 master plan and noted that some of the groups leasing space in the park were no longer operating in the park and some uses, such as water skiing on the pond had ceased.
Compton said current Park and Rec management wasn’t presented with the Wadsworth Plan and were told they had to look at community partnerships to operate the city-owned park, which is located outside the city limits in the county, but it couldn’t cost the city any money.
Vining said that it costs tens of thousands of dollars to continually update plans and the Wadsworth plan sat stagnant.
The master plan called for the relocation of the main park entrance, which staff said would be an expense the department doesn’t currently have funding to do.
“Coming up with $10 million for Park and Rec would be a pretty difficult ask,” Vining said.
The 2010 commission agenda report on the saddle club lease stated that before completion of the Wadsworth Park master plan, leases for use of the park were for five years. In 2000, those leases were all renewed on a year to year basis up to a maximum of five years. In 2006, commissioners approved two year leases with automatic two year renewal.
“Since there is no immediate identifiable funding source for improvements to Wadsworth Park, staff is recommending five year leases with a five year renewal option,” staff wrote in their 2010 agenda report.
The board decided to review the plan and have further discussion at a future meeting.
