By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Buchanan County has taken a major step toward creating a county fairgrounds.
The Buchanan County Fairgrounds Board has agreed to purchase the Easton school building and grounds from the East Buchanan School District for $250,000. East Buchan has built a new middle school in Gower.
Presiding Commissioner, Scott Nelson, says the next step is to secure a contractor to build an arena on the site.
“We gave them the parameters of 250 x 160,” Nelson tells KFEQmmunity. “It’s got to have electricity at this level for lights. And it’s got to be so tall to get horses in and tractors in or trucks in.”
Nelson says three firms have expressed interest in the design-bid contract.
Negotiations are ongoing to add some more space to the 10 acres purchased from the school district.
Nelson says once an indoor arena is built and the grounds developed, he wants it to be put to use.
“If our goal is to just utilize that facility for a week out of the year I think we’ve missed the boat,” Nelson says. “I think that it’s going to be a place to commune and gather for FFA, 4-H, for all the horse riders, and there’s a lot of them out there, high school rodeo, things that, to have events throughout the year.”
Nelson says he doesn’t want to develop the ground merely to host a county fair once a year.
“I want to use it all the time. Now, 40 weeks out of the year? Great. Forty weekends out the year? That would be great,” Nelson says. “Have something going on, not only in the arena, but utilize the school building, too. Because, again, you have a gymnasium, you have a commercial kitchen, you have classrooms, you’ve got a lot of space to do stuff in.”
If things go well, excavation work could begin as early as next month.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ