Council says horseshoe pitchers can stay in RVs at World Tournament site in Cedar Rapids

Some 1,500 horseshoe pitchers are expected in Cedar Rapids this summer for a world tournament, and the City Council is changing the city code to help accommodate them.

Specifically, the council has agreed to allow the horseshoe pitchers to live in their recreational vehicles in the parking lot outside the city's Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, which will be home to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association's World Tournament from July 26 through Aug. 7.

Ralph Palmer, horseshoe pitcher, tournament director and president of the Ar-Jay Center in Cedar Rapids, has succeeded in making the case to the City Council that horseshoe pitchers like to stay close to the venue at which they are competing.

At the same time, Palmer estimates that contestants will fill 190 hotel and motel rooms each night of the two-week event. In total, he figures the horseshoe pitchers will create an infusion of $1.2 million in economic spending in the city during the tournament.

The City Council approved the measure to allow people to stay in recreational vehicles at special-event sites at its last meeting in December. The council will cast what is expected to be a routine vote on the second and third readings of the ordinance amendment on Wednesday evening.