Community input meeting held for fairgrounds master plan

POMEROY–The Garfield County fair board held a community input meeting to discuss a master plan for fairgrounds improvement at the Dick Brown Building on June 15.

The proposed plan would extend the hog barns and create an indoor multipurpose arena north of the animal barns that would include horse stalls along the east side of it. An outdoor multipurpose arena would be built east of the indoor arena, with covered bleachers above a food court. The current rodeo grounds would be reclaimed to the field.

Concern was expressed over parking needs, particularly while the field is in crop and therefore unavailable for use. The grandstands and food court that currently exist were named high priority projects for safety reasons. Other priority projects include maintenance on currently existing arenas and barns.

Fair board president Sarah Lunsford said that having a grad plan to refer to will make funding for smaller projects more likely to be approved. It will make the process of getting repairs and renovations funded easier to be able to show how the project would fit into the master plan.