The National Western Center announced that Kate Girotti will be taking over as its new CEO.
The Thursday announcement heralds in a new leader for a campus that has helped shape the identity of north Denver for decades and is one of the city’s strongest connections to Western ranching and cowboy culture.
“It's just such a transformational time that the opportunity there is endless,” Girotti said in an interview with Denverite. “All of the groups that are working together to make sure that this is successful, not only for the businesses that are on campus, but for the surrounding community and for the people of Colorado. That's what really attracted me to it.”
The National Western Center is in the middle of a redevelopment project that will expand it to 250 acres — the latest in a series of sprawling construction projects that have redefined the city.
Girotti has worked as an executive in venue management and related services for years, most recently as a senior vice president for Legends Global. Her resume also includes positions with AEG and a management role related to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“I've worked in hotels and restaurants, but really most of my career has been working on the venue side, developing new venues from the ground up and building venues that really become centerpieces of the community — to restoring historic venues and bringing old, underutilized spaces back to life,” she said.
The National Western Center’s redevelopment project will cost about $1.6 billion, with the Denver City Council approving future funding of about $800 million last year.
The plans include:
- A new equestrian center for horse-related events
- A 160-room hotel
- The adaptive reuse of a historic building
- A community center that will be led by its residents
- A parking garage
- A few dozen units of affordable housing
Completed or upcoming portions of the project include the CSU Spur campus, a new headquarters for the Western Stock Show Association, an event center, a livestock center and a reconfiguration of the historic stockyards.
“The one thing I've heard from all of the partners is parking. So that's the common theme that continues to come up,” said Girotti, who plans to make this an early priority.
The stock show is a separate organization from the National Western Center. Girotti said she would work to bring more events to the campus and its CoBank Arena.
“There are so many events and so many opportunities to drive programming to various events in and around Denver that I'm really looking forward to working with the sales team to see who they're already talking to, what's already in their pipeline opportunities that maybe they've wanted to go after but didn't have the right tools to approach them,” she said.
Girotti also sees opportunities for “community programming and some of those more homegrown events, if you will, outside of some of the larger concerts and things that take massive promoters to come in.”
The NWC’s previous CEO, Brad Buchanan, left the job to become the city’s planning director (again).
CPR News’ Tony Gorman contributed reporting to this article.
