Fairground upgrades begin

The first step of a renovation project at the Crook County Fairgrounds has begun with the demolition of the three old cattle and horse barns. These were in a bad state due to age, says Fair Board President Terri Johnson, but will be replaced in time for the kids to bring their animals to fair.

The renovation has begun with the stalls, she says, because these were the structures in the worst condition. County maintenance crew has already begun pulling them down.

“They are removing all the light barns because they are old and falling apart and we have ordered new panels to replace them as far as holding the cattle for the tie-outs at night,” she says.

“When they were tearing them out the other day, they said the 6x6s had soaked up water and were actually spongy. They were afraid of them falling down on animals or people – they’re probably over 50 years old and wood doesn’t last forever.”

The aim is to tear the barns down completely, separate out the metal and burn the wood by the end of this week, says Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Larry Schommer, who is responsible for all county buildings including those at the fairgrounds. The next step, of course, will be to replace them.

New Stalls

“We’ve ordered new panels and Larry has been in contact with us at our meeting and he took our advisement of what we needed and ordered them,” Johnson says.

“They will definitely be here before fair and they’re going to do a lot of grading of the ground and making it so the water runs off better and then we will put those panels up so they can have their tie-outs at night.”

The panels will go around the tie-out area for the beef, Schommer says.

“During the day they will be in the big indoor arena and at night you can tie them up like they do at state fair on a rail, or you can bring your own panels to attach to the rail,” he says.

Through fair board member Amy Pravecek, Pinnacle Bank will be donating the use of their large event tent during the period around fair, Schommer says. His understanding is that it will be big enough to cover the steers during the night.

At this time, it’s a case of trying things to see how they work and then adjusting according to need, he explains, because the condition of the three buildings made removing them urgent.

“We’re trying it and seeing what happens. We had to do something with those buildings, they had to come out, so now we’re just trying to work through what’s going to be a changing deal,” he says.

“After, we’ll see if that worked for them or not.”

The work shouldn’t change anything for the kids who want to bring animals to the fairgrounds this summer, Johnson says. While the panels will be up in time to replace those stalls, “The pig barn is still going to be intact as it has been in the past and the 4H and FFA kids can use that just like they have in the past to have their fair animals there before fair.”

The new stalls will be one visible upgrade as summer rolls around, but, says Johnson, “It’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we are hoping to accomplish over the next several years to make it all look new and bring the quality of it back up.”

She explains that the facilities were beginning to get run down and lose their attractiveness, prompting the board to begin working on refurbishments. The second project for 2021 will be geared towards the available facilities.

“They are in the process of putting more electricity in the big barn, that’s the other thing for this year,” Johnson says.

They’re putting another leg of electricity so we have better electrical outlets and don’t blow the breakers with all of the blowers and clippers and everything.”

Schommer is also aiming to replace the brick restrooms with prefab structures such as those used at the city parks.

“They look nice and will make it a little bit nicer for the kids to be able to change and so on.I’m trying to get estimates now, but contractors are so busy,” he says,

“There’s also going to be a new multi-purpose show ring. It has been ordered and they say it’s about ten weeks out.”

If all goes to plan, future years will bring additional upgrades to this new show ring, Johnson says.

“At some point, we hope to have a covered show ring so people can be outside in the air and yet have a shade over the top of them in case of inclement weather and the sun, just to make it more like what they have at state fair and some of the other counties,” she says.