Contract awarded for fairgrounds lights project to upgrade rodeo arena, south end

MOSES LAKE — A company specializing in lighting for sports arenas will install the new lights at the Moses Lake Roundup arena and add lights to the south end of Grant County Fairgrounds.

The contract was awarded to Musco Lighting, of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The estimated project cost is about $474,000.

Tom Gaines, director of central services for Grant County, said Tuesday that county officials are working on meeting requirements of a grant that will pay for part of the project. Construction will start when those requirements are met and the grant money is available, Gaines said.

The county received the $281,000 grant, largely through the efforts of Rep. Tom Dent, to help pay for the project. Fairgrounds director Jim McKiernan said Tuesday that Dent’s efforts were greatly appreciated.

“That was huge for us,” McKiernan said. “Tom really did go to bat for the fairgrounds and the rodeo association.”

The project is scheduled for two phases, Gaines said: installing the rodeo arena lights at a cost of about $298,000, then adding lights at the south end of the fairgrounds property at a cost of about $176,000.

Because county officials used a King County-based purchasing cooperative, the price was lower than projected, Gaines said.

The current lights at the rodeo arena are outdated, McKiernan said, and the south end of the fairgrounds has no lights at all.

The new lights will use LED bulbs. “Super low energy,” McKiernan said.

“One of the nice things is, the new lights will be a lot less light pollution,” McKiernan added.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].