County Fair Facilities

[mainecattlemother]

Our county fair is located on city property and the city is now selling a portion of the property where our beef and dairy facilities are located for commercial development.  The buildings are old brick buildings and are not in good shape and cannot be moved.  Plans are to tear them down in April. Our fairboard has done very little fundraising as of yet to cover the cost of the new building which is estimated at approx $130,000 for a 60 x 120 building with portable tie stalls down the middle and sides, bathroom, shower, and changing room, milk parlor, and possibly contain our show ring if room permits.  I would love to hear opinions on how much you feel 4-H should be responsible for helping to fund the building.  We believe the fairboard is asking 4-H to do quite a bit.  We have talked about doing a raffle for a boat, four-wheeler, or lawn mower and some small prizes or have a meal and silent and live auction. Our 4-H program in our county has very declining numbers which is very depressing.  How much responsibility do you feel 4-H should play in building a new building on the grounds?

 

[travis214]

If I were you I would look around and see who else needs a barn. When we built our new facility for the county show, the school needed a new bus barn. So, they split the cost in return for having use of the barn most of the year. I know that really doesn't answer your question but hope it helps. But then again, our fair board got in such a huge fight over where to build the barn that they ended up building two identical facilities in both of the towns in our county..the fair is held in one town one year and the other the next. ???

 

[obie105]

In our county money and a fair date became such an issue the county fair and 4h split. The county fair and all the open shows are held at one time at the fairgrounds and the 4h has their expo at another time in another town. The first few years after the split the 4h funded it all through donations and fundraisers. In Iowa the state also has 4h money set aside to help do things for building improvements at fairgrounds. Its something to look into. For the first few years after the split we showed in makeshift tents and pens in our city park. Now they do it at the new expo center that is in town.

 

[Ms Ray]

Is 4-H the only ones who use it?  Does FFA use it, if so they should be asked to help also.  It should be a joint effort when we need new things here like scales... and are approached we will use vote on paying for a third of the cost so it is split between the fair, 4-H and FFA

 

[rackranch]

Has anyone spoke with the county to see if budget allows or can be created for the new barn?  Possibly a bond election. They should be the ones to pay for the facility.  A steering committee needs to be formed with members from all parties represented.  A multi-use facility would work best, it will get more parties involved, allow the facility to be used more often, and as a result help justify spending.  Ours can be rented from the county for functions such as dances, receptions, and parties any kind.  Ours was also built to accommodate equine events which has become our biggest money maker. Also check into possible grants that may be available through the Parks department in your state.

I have a lot of ideas, I headed the committee for our 17 million dollar complex.  Like grandpa said, if your gonna wish for a loaf of bread you might as well wish for the whole store. ;D

 

[mccannfarms]

In our county the fairgrounds are owned by the city. And the animal barn is just a simple pole barn with wash racks and bathrooms. They tie cattle panels to the poles to tie cattle to and have pens that they set up for hogs and lambs. Because the building is so much of an empty shell they rent it out for things ranging from purebred cattle sales to community yard sales. In that situation I could see the 4-H and FFA paying for part of the panels but not the building. Our fair makes money through multiple events that go on that week including people coming to watch the livestock shows.. That money should be used to fund improvements to the facilities...

IN your situation I would think that if the City owns the land and is selling the current facilities that they would have the money to replace them or could come up with a significant portion of the cost of the permanent structures involved in the building. Then 4-H, FFA & the fair board would be responsible for coming up with the money for non permanent things such as panels, scales, seating ect. and those groups would OWN those things not the city.

 

[dare3324]

I would certainly want a contract with the city that they cannot sell the property that the new facility is built on if 4-h is paying for it.

 

[DLD]

We have a very nice county fairgrounds.  Ours, like rackranch described theirs, is a multi-use facility that brings lots of revenue into the city/county by being rented out for many different kinds of events, year round.  Our fair board and supporters worked hard to convince the public of the value of such a facility, and managed to get a small (I can't remember for sure if it's a quarter or a half of a percent) county wide sales tax passed to fund it.  It was a collection of old red rock buildings built by the WPA in the late 1930's and originally used to house POW's.  The restoration kept much of the original rock facade, and it makes for a very attractive facility now (mentioned that because of the op's reference to old brick buildings).
The sales tax expires this year, and we're now voting to renew it - if it passes, another nicer indoor arena and massive improvements to the outdoor one are in the very near future.  Less than 15 years ago we were in an old, run down, leaky facility, that was failing fast, but we now have a really premiere kind of facility... 

http://gradycountyfairgrounds.com/