Vandals damage Grant County Fairgrounds buildings

EPHRATA — Vandals damaged buildings at the Grant County Fairgrounds sometime during the past two weeks. Tom Gaines, Grant County director of central services, said as far as fairgrounds officials can tell, nothing was stolen.

Fairgrounds workers found holes cut in the fence, Gaines said, and the vandals kicked in the doors of five buildings. All were food booths operated by non-profit organizations during the Grant County Fair. All the doors and some of the door jambs will have to be replaced, Gaines said.

Fairgrounds manager Jim McKiernan said the vandals also cut the lock on a building where equipment was stored but left the contents undisturbed. That may have been because the fairgrounds gates were locked, McKiernan said.

Fairgrounds employees are patrolling the grounds more often and doing more security checks as a result. Gaines said fairgrounds officials have ordered new security cameras and are looking into other security options.

— Cheryl Schweizer