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Horse stalls at Rodeo Grounds get upgrades and new corrals

Corrals at Port-A-Stall, a city operated boarding facility at the Williams Rodeo Grounds were rebuilt in the last several months by city of Williams crews.
Photo by Loretta James.

Corrals at Port-A-Stall, a city operated boarding facility at the Williams Rodeo Grounds were rebuilt in the last several months by city of Williams crews.

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The city of Williams recently completed upgrades and replaced corrals at Port-A-Stalls at the Williams Rodeo Grounds.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — For more than 30 years the city of Williams has offered boarding for large animals at Port-A-Stall, located at the Williams Rodeo Grounds.

Over the years, the stalls have had minor repairs until recently, when the city decided to update infrastructure and replace corrals.

Port-A-Stall offers long-term lodging for horses, cattle, goats or sheep. During special events the city also offers overnight use of the facilities.

“The city deems this a recreational service for our western heritage,” said Keith Buonocore, finance director for the city of Williams.

The project was completed by the city of Williams, which installed new corrals and other upgrades earlier this month. The upgrades started in mid-June and almost every department in the city helped with the project.

Before starting on the actual repairs, crews completed groundwork and built new gates and posts. The corrals are built out of leftover well pipe that could no longer be used in the city’s wells.

“We bought some pipe but a lot was left over from the wells so that helped alleviate the cost some,” said Sheldon Johnson, shop superintendent for the city.

The heavy duty fencing replaced temporary green panel fencing, which Johnson said had not held up very well over the last 30 years.

“They were all beat up and rusted through,” he said. “They’ve been there as long as I’ve been here (around 24 years). They were just run down. Some of them were unsafe for the horse, some were wired together, some of them bolted — over the years they’d had just quick repairs.”

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The city of Williams rebuilt some of the fencing at the stalls using old pipes from city wells.

There are 30 stalls for rent at the facility. Each stall is attached to an outside corral. The corral is 12 feet wide by 20 feet long — all of which had to be replaced.

“It needed to be done. We also changed drainage so it wouldn’t flood as bad. We did a lot of groundwork before we did the stalls themselves,” Johnson said. “It turned out nice. It’s a project I’m proud of. The city can be proud of it. It was good to get all these departments involved, just about every department in the city was involved in it one way or another. It was a team effort and (the corrals) will be there for years and years.”

Structure Improvements cost around $43,000 with $20,000 alloted to replacing the corrals, according to Buonocore.

The city has rented stalls for over 30 years to anyone living within the Williams School District. Only horses, cattle, sheep and goats may be kept at the stalls. There is a maximum of two stalls per household and only one animal per stall. Stallions over one year old or bulls or draft horses are not permitted and unruly or potentially dangerous animals can be banned, according to the city’s lease agreement. As long as stalls are available, 4-H members with livestock projects may lease a stall at no charge for the duration of their annual project.

Boarders must be over 18 years old and reside within the Williams School District. Stalls are leased on a first come basis, however, names can be added to a wait list until a stall becomes available. Leases are for one year.

During repairs, horses were moved out of the stalls to stalls on the opposite side of the barn or to temporary corrals erected in the field.

More information about renting a stall is available from the city of Williams.


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