The Celebration made a big announcement Monday night: the well-known Calsonic Arena will soon be renamed the Cooper Steel Arena.

The arena was built in 1988 and has housed many equine and other community events since. In recent years, the venue has needed improvements that could help attract additional events to Shelbyville, impacting the Celebration as well as the local economy, according to Celebration CEO Warren Wells.

“Partnering with Cooper Steel is a dream come true for me,” said Wells.  “I can’t think of a better company to have on our arena. They are a family business started right here in Shelbyville, and they are such amazing corporate citizens for Bedford County.  They give so much to the community with great paying jobs and do so much in the school system.  I am excited about the future of The Celebration and for what this will mean for Shelbyville.”

Inside and out

With Cooper Steel’s investment in the project, a team of decision-makers from the Celebration and Cooper Steel will work together to make much needed improvements to the interior and exterior of the facility, including to the arena’s sound system and Celebration RV grounds.

Cooper Steel CEO Gary Cooper added, “Family is everything to us at Cooper Steel. When we were approached with the idea of improving this venue to attract more events for the families here, the answer was a resounding yes. We are incredibly proud to be part of this project and so excited to see what the future holds at Cooper Steel Arena.”

Also new is the Celebration’s investment of approximately $350,000 - $400,000 in new floor footing in the arenas that will be finished this week. The new footing will allow more equine events to be held at the Celebration.

With this new footing, several events will also be taking place in the upcoming months: The 33rd annual Lonestar Rodeo will be hosted on Feb. 3 and 4; the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association will have two events this year; and the Racking Horse Celebration, which is moving from Alabama, will have spring and fall shows this year.

Increased activity

“Basically, from August through the end of October, we will have hundreds of people living on the property, hundreds of horses on the property non-stop. It’s really exciting,” said Wells.

The first Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association that took place last September was the Celebration’s largest event outside of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

According to Wells, they completed a study with South Central Tennessee Development District which showed that just under $50 million in revenue is added to the local economy every year because of the Celebration’s events. The Celebration alone brings in some $36 million to local restaurants, hotels, and stores.

Lastly, Mikey’s Motors, a golf cart supplier and repair business, will be setting up a permanent location on The Celebration grounds. Mikey’s Motors is not new to the Celebration. With 105 acres to cover, many people staying on the Celebration use Mikey’s Motors golf carts to get around.

“Not only is he going to be there for my customers, but he is also going to be a five-day-a-week business. We like that because we feel like the Celebration has brought a business to Shelbyville,” said Wells.