Were finishing up on our new barn. This post might get kind of long, but try and stay with me. As far as an indoor wash rack goes I'd say it depends where you live. IMO coolers are way more trouble than their worth and hard work, misters, and a few turbo fans work just as well. Make sure if your gonna have your calves in a barn that it's well ventilated. My new barn is 30x50 open east to west. On the north and south sides are 20' shed offs. In Tx we usually have a pretty good breeze coming in from the south so my show calves are going to be on the south side and were using the north side for parking vehicles, trailers, and equipment. I have my panel tied to the north wall, and built a wall on the west side(evening sun) that goes from the top of the shed off and the whole distance of it. So the north and west are closed and the south and east are open. We have two 12x10 pens that are covered at the back of the shed of and they open on the north side to bring them out to tie them up, and they open into and alley way on the south side that leads to a 2 acre turn out pen for at night. It works great bc I turn my calves out at night and keep them tied all day. Build a sealed off critter tight feed room. Run your electrical cords from the ceiling where they just hang, that way you don't have extension cords running everywhere. Idk if you do much clipping or not, but I have a clipping room with lots of light and white walls to help light it up. Use dirt!!!! The only concrete in our barn is the wash rack. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but that's all I have on barns at the moment.
As far as a pre season order goes, it depends. What do you like to use, and are these shows blow&go or full fit? If it's a fit show then your gonna needs LOTS of paint and a little adhesive, and if it's blow&go then a little oil and sheen will have you set. Hopefully you got something out of this lol.