Toby Keith Casper Concert Scheduled for October 17 is Cancelled
UPDATE:
The General Manager of the Ford Wyoming Center spoke with K2 Radio News and said the following:
"This was a decision made by Toby's management and the promoter," said Brad Murphy, the General Manager of the Ford Wyoming Center. "We are business as usual and are looking forward to a great fall and spring. We've got some exciting things planned!"
Original Story Below
The Toby Keith 'Country Comes to Town' Tour will not, in fact, be coming to town.
On Thursday, the Ford Wyoming Center announced that the concert, scheduled for October 17 has been cancelled.
According to the Ford Wyoming Center website, the concert has been cancelled 'due to circumstances.' Whether they were foreseen or unforeseen remains to be seen.
The website did state that tickets purchased with credit cards will automatically be refunded within 30 days, and that tickets purchased with cash at the Sinclair Box Office can be returned for a refund.
This news comes after a Casper City Council meeting revealed that the freight elevator at the Ford Wyoming Center was in need of repair.
According to the City Council's Work Session Packet, Thyssenkrupp Elevator notified the Ford Wyoming Center's Structures Division Manager in early January that the main hydraulic jack of the freight elevator had failed and would need replaced. It was said that the main hydraulic jack that raises and lowers the elevator was what needed repaired, which would cost approximately $95,108.81. City Council approved the repair on April 6, 2021.
TKE received the parts and began working to repair the hydraulic jack on July 14. Upon repair, TKE discovered that the initial elevator was damaged prior to installation and that a hole had developed at the edge of the repair..
"This hole caused the elevator jack to fail over the course of approximately 40 years."
Additionally, TKE stated that the ground beneath the elevator had shifted, necessitating the drilling of a new hole for the jack, which will cost the city an additional $183,282. TKE told the City that the nearest company who could make these repairs was Snow's Drilling, from Englewood Colorado. The City noted that they tried to look elsewhere for for companies who could do the work, but that Snow's Drilling was, in fact, the only company within distance that could do so.
Unfortunately, because of the back log of work that Snow's Drilling is doing, they wouyld not be able to start on the project for 3-4 weeks,
"The drilling work would take approximately 2 weeks to complete at which time the installation of the jack would take 3-4 days to finish the project making the elevator available to the Ford Wyoming Center staff the third week of November 2021."
To read the full summary, and to see work orders, visit this link.
It is unknown if this situation and the cancellation of the Toby Keith concert are related.
K2 Radio News has reached out to the Ford Wyoming Center for comment and clarification and will update this story if/when they respond.