Developer helps save carriage rides in Scottsdale

Scottsdale visitors can spot a familiar stagecoach in Old Town Saturday for the start of the 2018 season.

The reason?

Hotel developer Carter Unger. Unger stepped in with a possible solution after the city said it would stop paying Scottsdale Horse and Carriage to offer free rides in Old Town. The city also asked the company to vacate a cityowned stable at Brown Avenue and Second Street by year’s end.

When Scottsdale Horse and Carriage owner Teri Todd was notified of the city’s decision in August, she acknowledged Old Town has changed. But she said she could not believe the “West’s Most Western town” of Scottsdale would do anything to put the horse and carriage out of business.

That’s when Unger stepped in.

Unger, a contracted marketer for Westworld, said he read about Todd’s plight in The Arizona Republic and reached out to her with an idea.

He plans to use Westworld marketing dollars and some of his own money to keep the carriage rides going. As part of the deal, he will place a Westworld logo on the back of the stagecoach and put marketing materials for

the events center inside the stagecoach.

Scottsdale had paid the company up to $14,000 for the horse and carriage rides each year as part of its city entertainment budget. However, that went away as Karen Churchard, the city’s director of tourism and events, said, “Things have changed in our downtown area.”

Unger will pay $8,000 through December to operate the free rides on Saturdays

“It’s a public good,” Unger said. It’s an example that there is such a thing as an in-between.

“We can make this a special, unique place that’s the right blend of old and new,” Unger said.

Scottsdale Horse and Carriage will offer free rides 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday along Main Street.

The stagecoach will run from the Civic Center pedestrian entrance at Brown Avenue and Main Street by the Scottsdale Historical Museum, down Main Street to the Museum of the West.

“I can say on a good note that the horses are very happy to be back to work,” Todd said. “It should be a lot of fun.”

The stagecoach may shorten its routes on Saturday to circle back faster and pick up more riders, depending on demand, Todd said.

Todd said Unger’s proposal will keep the rides going through December, but she still sees the Noriega Livery Stable as necessary for her operations.

The carriage company has operated rent-free out of the city-owned stable for 27 years as part of its subsidy to offer free rides on Saturdays.

If Todd is forced to vacate the stable, Unger said he is committed to building a shelter for the horses on his property. Unger is developing Southbridge 2, an office, condominium and hotel project west of Scottsdale road along the Arizona Canal.

Todd made a plea to the Scottsdale City Council last month, asking it to reconsider the contract.

The council asked City Manager Jim Thompson to report back on the issue.

Assistant City Manager Brent Stockwell said he expects Thompson to review Todd’s case and make a council recommendation in the next couple of weeks.

He notes that even without the stable, Todd is welcome to continue operating in Scottsdale and conducting paid rides without the city’s help. Todd has said that’s unrealistic.

The city is talking with Parada del Sol Rodeo about turning the stable building’s interior into a museum showcasing rodeo memorabilia, Stockwell said. The new museum proposal will go before the City Council Nov. 13, he said.

Todd’s horses use the building’s outdoor part. Stockwell said there are no plans for that area now.

“Keep us in the livery stable so we can continue our business,” Todd said.