A rich history surrounds the host site of the 2015 Rail Town U.S.A. College Rodeo. The Wild West Arena, 2400 N Buffalo Bill Ave., is home to numerous events every year.

Those include monster truck shows, the Nebraska State Rodeo Association Finals, NEBRASKAland Days (NLD) concerts, and most notably, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Rodeo.

Thousands of people flood the stadium to watch the top cowboys and cowgirls in the nation go head-to-head in the sport of professional rodeo.

Plans to build the arena began in the 1960s. The City of North Platte purchased the 34 acres the arena sits on at the urging of Mel Steen, former director of the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission.

The property is located directly south of Scout’s Rest Ranch, and Steen wanted to use it for a summer reenactment of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. He also thought it might be a good location for NLD, which was at that time, in Lincoln.

The State of Nebraska reimbursed the city for the cost, and almost immediately, another 17 acres were added for roads and parking.

The Buffalo Bill Rodeo was moved from the Lincoln County Fairgrounds to the Wild West Arena in 1972.

According to David Fudge, NLD executive director, the primary components of the facility, including the arena and grandstands, were already in place when it opened to the public.

“The original crow’s nest has been replaced, and some other configurations have been made since then, but for the most part the arena is the same as it always was,” Fudge said.

Nebraskaland Days, Inc. bought the property from the state for $1 in the mid-1990s, but tough times budget-wise made upkeep of the Wild West Arena difficult until 2006.

That was the first year the North Platte/Lincoln County Visitors Bureau offered NLD an improvement grant.

The money was used to widen the timed event boxes and move them further east so team roping contestants wouldn’t run into the grandstand wall on the west.

The panels and fence posts of the arena were swapped out in 2008, and in 2009, work started on the livestock holding pens behind the bucking chutes.

The gates and panels were replaced, and the fences were raised to discourage animals from jumping over them. Overhead supports were installed to keep the new gates from drooping and wearing out early.

Renovations were done in phases as money became available. The grandstand steps were also replaced, the restrooms were updated, canopies were added behind the grandstands and a replay screen was hung in the arena.

The pavilion was finished and painted, a fenced area for tour buses was built, new lighting was installed, 8-feet of catwalk was added behind the bucking chutes, the stripping chute was pulled out and sheeting was put up in the crowd alley.

The entryway was redone in 2012 to include a new fence, a gazebo, an upgraded ticket booth, an etched brick walkway and greenery.

Improvements wrapped up in 2013 – the first year the arena began hosting the annual Rail Town U.S.A. College Rodeo.