CLOVERDALE - The Cloverdale Agriplex will no longer have a soil floor now that the 30-year-old building has nearly completed renovations.
Mike MacSorley, general manager of Cloverdale Rodeo Exhibition Association, came up with the idea for putting in a cement floor in order to make it a more diverse venue."Turning it into a cement floor just opens up a lot more business opportunities."It makes it a much more versatile building. It also doesn't limit what we can do with the agricultural community," MacSorley said. "We've kept the dirt so we can move the dirt in and out as we need it."The general manager added that the city is growing and Surrey is no longer an "agricultural-based community." Changing it to a cement floor allows them to host a number of events without having to put carpet on top of the uneven ground.He also said the dirt could be sifted and brought back into the Agriplex if a rodeo or horse event needed to use the building.Prior to the renovations, the Agriplex hosted Christmas fairs, antique fairs, baby shows, dog shows and horse events. However, the soil had more problems than its stability."It was very hard to convince somebody to walk into the building to rent it for a trade show when there (were) mushrooms growing in the dirt. It just made it difficult," said MacSorley, adding the association is now looking at sponsors for a potential name change for the Agriplex.The 22,000-square-foot venue, which is owned by the city, will also add newer light fixtures, replacing the ones that were put in when the building was opened in October 1985 by former Surrey mayor Don Ross.When it is ready for use next Friday (Oct. 3), the Agriplex will be able to hold up to 1800 people.The first two events at the building are the Fraser Valley Dog Fanciers show from Oct. 10-13 and an Elite Canadian Champion Wrestling event on Oct. 18.More information can be found at Cloverdalerodeo.com.kyle.benning@gmail.com