Fairgrounds expanding equine barns, buildings

MOSES LAKE - More restrooms, equine barns and modernized infrastructure are in store for the Grant County Fairgrounds by next year.

Fairgrounds Interim Facilities Manager and Grant County Courthouse Facilities Manager Vern Cummings said new equine barns are being put in and modernized later this year. A portion of the existing barns are being removed, he said.

Also at the fairgrounds, new bathrooms are being installed, the 4-H and Commercial buildings are being remodeled with additional new restrooms, and new water and sewer lines are coming in.

Cummings said the fairgrounds would house about the same number of animals as it is capable of doing now.

"Just a modern facility that is combining several old buildings into one area," he said.

The equine barn project went to bid earlier this month, and Davenport-based Halme Construction was the low bidder. The contract has not yet been awarded, but the construction company has been notified, Cummings said.

Wenatchee-based Whitebird Construction was low bidder on remodels of the 4-H and Commercial buildings and has also been notified. The contract has not been awarded yet. The other projects have not been sent out to bid.

"It's been long overdue out here; we have a hodgepodge of plumbing and electrical, especially infrastructure," Cummings said. "We need to upgrade; we pump septic tanks now, we don't have a centralized sewer system."

The Grant County commissioners are behind making the fairgrounds a showpiece of the county, Cummings said.

"It's a wonderful facility; it's just been kind of on the back burner for years and years, not being a year-round facility," he said. "That's what they would like to bring it to, where people can come out and enjoy it for facilities or conventions or weddings, that sort of function."

Construction on the equine barn begins in late September; Cummings said nothing was confirmed for electrical or underground work.

"The design isn't complete yet," he said. "We're expecting to be open for business by the Spring Fair. If we have a good winter, not too many frozen days, we're going to have plenty of window to get this accomplished."