County fairgrounds take shape

The plans for a new Harvey County fairgrounds may be champagne dreams on a beer budget right now, but the committee is moving closer to a workable plan for the new facility.

The committee met Tuesday night with project leaders and architects to discuss the site plan and building designs.

Land already has been purchased for the project at 36th Street and Kansas Avenue.

About $6.5 million worth of debt service would be freed up once the jail bonds are paid off. The county already has spent about $1 million on land.

That leaves about $5.5 million for site improvements, including buildings, sewer, parking and roads.

The price tag for the current plan developed by the fairgrounds committee is $9.6 million.

“We know this is our champagne option,” said county commission chairman Chip Westfall. “We asked the committee to look at everything, knowing we would come back in and cut.”

Once the project is finalized, a fund-raising campaign will be kicked off to make up the difference between the county input and the final cost of the project.

“I have faith that you will get things lined out,” county commissioner Marge Roberson said, “and when you get this lined out, you will need to help us sell it. It doesn’t matter whether you are rural or urban or if you have a cow, dog, horse or pig — if you just want to show up or it will be something for everyday, this will be something for everybody.”

Westfall said the project is not being designed to be used exclusively for two weeks a year for the county fair. He said all the buildings are being designed for multiple uses — from everything to equestrian events to rental for family Thanksgiving dinners.

Committee members still are brainstorming on uses for the facility, but other ideas include concerts, religious events, RV events, an ATV motorcycle track at the demo derby arena or a winter car show.

It is the plan of the committee that fund-raising would include funds for a permanent endowment that would perpetually pay for the maintenance of the facility, Westfall said.

Designs for the new fairgrounds include an equestrian arena, warm-up arena, exhibition hall, outdoor arena, maintenance building, stall barn and demolition derby arena.

The greatest cost on the project would be in the 78,750-square-foot equestrian arena at almost $3.7 million.

The committee discussed putting in folding bleachers in the arena to allow for other events in the building, such as a garden show.

An announcers stand with public address equipment is planned for the building.

Although it will not be the best concert quality, said Glen Calvert of Priefert Complex Design, the building could be used by bands for small concerts.

The plans also include a 15,000-square-foot warm-up arena at a cost of $303,524.

The exhibition hall would replace two buildings at the current fairgrounds and include a 39-by15-foot kitchen and be the new home for the Extension offices. The exhibition hall will be 16,580 square feet, which will be about 5 percent larger than the buildings at the current fairgrounds. It will have a capacity of about 500 people.

The stall barn would be 37,500 square feet and cost almost $1.2 million.

It will be able to house 130 to 170 stalls for livestock.

The plan is to have removable panels with stalls with polyurethane bottoms that could house horses for equestrian events.

“These will be 10 by 10 stalls that could house a $100,000 horse or a $10,000 heifer or multiple swine,” Calvert said.

The building also will include wash bays and drop-down electrical outlets. The committee discussed having wash bays inside and outside the building. The size of the wash bays will be a matter of cost.

“What will kill this in the mind of people is the wash-rack space and the electrical availability,” said Gary Lanier, committee member from Walton.

The floor likely will be concrete. The building also will house bathrooms with showers, a multipurpose room that could be used as a classroom and offices.

“This could be cheap meeting areas. I think you will get a lot of use out of them,” Calvert said.

The facility would include a maintenance building for equipment needed to maintain the fairgrounds, but Calvert said the building also could be used to store other county equipment.

The plans for the demolition derby arena are still under design, but it is estimated to cost about $170,000 without the bleachers. Designers hope the bleachers can be moved from the current demolition derby arena for a saving of $60,000.

Most of the parking for the facility will be gravel. There are pull-through spaces planned for horse trailers and some premium spots planned with electrical and water hook-ups for RVs.

The committee’s next meeting will discuss marketing and funding of the project and be March 30 at the courthouse.