Columbiana County Fair Board still needs help with new buildings

By D.A. Wilkinson

The improvements should be done in time for the fair.

LISBON — On a sunny and dry day last week, a fickle wind was blowing back and forth at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds.

Fair officials didn’t seem to mind while they were working on a long stretch of empty ground where the fair’s steer, sheep and dairy barns used to be.

The barns, which fair officials said had been held together with cables, were torn down last year for a $250,000 beef complex.

Tresa Hall, the fair board’s secretary-treasurer, said that $146,000 has been raised so far.

The fund drive is under way when “the economy is not in great shape,” she said. But, she added, “People are being generous.”

The project is the largest at the fairgrounds in recent memory, according to Lynnelle Thompson, a fair board director.

It’s expected to be completed before the fair, which runs July 27-Aug. 3.

The building drive is part of an ongoing effort by the board to improve the fair facilities.

The demolished barns that dated to the 1930s and 1940s had been a safety concern for years. The fair board decided they weren’t structurally sound and couldn’t be repaired.

The new steel building will measure 80 feet by 320 feet. It will include a judging area for steers raised by adults and 4-H members. The fair plans to rent it for other events.

To make room for the new building, a side of a hill was shaved off. Owen Unkefer, fair board president, said a retaining wall will be built that will be 4 feet high and about 250 feet long.

Last week, Unkefer and other others involved in the fair were moving gravel by machine and with shovels to make way for the wall.

Unkefer said he wanted to thank all who have donated to the project.

The construction of the new building also will eliminate safety concerns about moving the steer from the former barns through crowds to the coliseum for judging. The change will free up the coliseum for more events.

The new building is expected to arrive in parts later this month.

Mike Pusateri Excavating and Pipelines of East Liverpool donated materials for site preparation work. Schuster Construction Co. of Salem will be the general contractor.

Other needs for the project include electrical and plumbing work.

Thompson, who is in charge of the fair’s showing of adult-raised beef, said roads will be built around the new structure to allow access by exhibitors as well as safety forces, if needed.

No decision has been made where the sheep will be shown during the fair.

The fair board also has sought about $125,000 in federal funding to fix waterlines along the midway where concession stands are located, and to make restrooms at the fairgrounds handicap-accessible.

The fair began in 1845 but didn’t have its own fairgrounds until 1853.

Thompson said the main waterline at the fairgrounds probably hasn’t been touched in 40 years.

The funding, if approved, would not be available until early 2009.

wilkinson@vindy.com