Grant Co. Fairgrounds getting upgrades

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Fairgrounds is installing around $1 million in upgrades, according to Fairgrounds Director Jim McKiernan. The upgrades include new light towers and lighting at gates, additional cameras, a new public address system, improved fencing, removing track from the rodeo grounds, new bleachers for the rodeo and power and water stalls. There will also be increased policing staff at the fairgrounds this year.  

“A lot of our efforts, as far as capital projects are having to do with safety this year as a result of last year's shooting,” McKiernan said.  

On Aug. 16, two people were shot within the fairgrounds. According to a statement issued Aug. 17 by Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began as a gang-related verbal argument between the suspect and members of a rival gang. The suspect, a male teen from Wenatchee, drew a handgun and fired one round, striking a 16-year-old girl in the back and a 14-year-old girl in the leg.  

“The debate is we're in an open carry county, and there's nothing to say that a person can't carry a firearm onto the fairgrounds,” McKiernan said. “The debate has been to install metal detectors and all of that. We spent a lot of time with Live Nation and talking about their security at The Gorge. The difference between us and The Gorge is they are a private facility; they can institute whatever rules they want. We have Constitutional requirements that we have to follow. And so, since we're a government owned facility, we don't have the ability to make rules with regards to firearms that aren't Constitutional.” 

McKiernan explained instead of installing metal detectors, the fairgrounds are focusing on visibility by using better lighting, more cameras and more officers to watch the grounds. The PA system will also allow for easier communication if an incident happens. Last year, during the shooting, the campgrounds were not notified of the incident. However, with the new upgrades, an announcement can be heard from anywhere on the grounds.

“Things are going good out there,” Grant County Commissioner Rob Jones said. “It looks good. Looks better than ever. I've been operating my business out there for 15 plus years, and it's nicer than it's ever been.” 

McKiernan has also started a YouTube channel: @GCFairgrounds to provide the community with updates on what’s happening at the facility. The first video is with GCSO’s Sheriff Joey Kriete in regard to fairground safety. The full video can be watched here: http://bit.ly/4hzFody.  

“After last year's incident, I thought it would be good to try to alleviate some of the fears that people might have in the community and talk about some of the things that we're doing,” McKiernan said in the video.  

Lighting and cameras 

The fairgrounds will have more lighting at the gates, south field (where many of the vendors set up) and the carnival venue. 

“We've put in new lighting in a lot of the areas,” McKiernan said. “In fact, most of the grounds have new high intensity lighting. That'll help a lot.” 

Kriete said the new lights are like “daylight,” which will allow officers to see better throughout the grounds at nighttime.  

“We also saw that the lighting at the gates was a biggie,” Kriete said. “I know that one of the things we were trying to do is identify others that may have been involved in that incident. And the lighting at some of the gates was such that we couldn't quite see detail of those people as they exited.”  

Both McKiernan and Kriete said the upgrades to lighting will immensely improve security and make it easier to handle a situation if one arises.  

The fairgrounds are also adding around 50 new cameras around the grounds. Last year, there were 19 cameras, according to McKiernan. There will be three monitoring stations for the cameras this year as well with one at the sheriff’s booth, one at the main office and one for maintenance staff.   

Security 

A new and upgraded PA system is being installed, which will be audible throughout the fairgrounds. Last year, during the shooting, McKiernan said the campgrounds and some perimeter areas were unable to hear the announcement.  

“We're going to put speakers on the shops and everything so all the campgrounds can hear,” McKiernan said. “One of the things we heard was there were rumors about shooters, multiple shooters. I mean, rumors are rampant when you have something like that, but we want to make sure that people know exactly what's happening. We (want to) get as much information out as possible.”  

The fairgrounds are also replacing a chunk of fencing, fixing holes and, McKiernan said, hopefully make it harder for people to sneak things in.  

“We did find that our fencing was really lacking in some areas, and we had some holes, and we just had to make a run through,” Kriete said. “(McKiernan) made the request to get the whole entire area of the south end of the carnival location replaced.”  

The fairgrounds will also have around 20 more officers this year for the Grant County Fair itself. It is contracting through an agency from Seattle that employs recently retired and off-duty officers as security.  

“The visibility of having that many officers on the grounds during the event is going to make people feel more comfortable,” McKiernan said. “These are cops. These don't just have security licenses; they're certified police officers.”  

The sheriff’s office and Moses Lake Police Department will also be present at the fair.  

“Anytime we can have more security out here and qualified security people that are trained for that, whether it's off duty law enforcement officers, retired law enforcement officers, people that know the system (and) know what we, as far as deputies or officers, are looking for, is very, very supportive (of overall safety),” Kriete said. “They're going to be a great addition to the security of the fairgrounds.”  

FAIRGROUNDS EVENTS: 

Feb. 14-16  

Third Annual NW Winter Karting Nationals  
Ardell Pavilion
$10 for 12 and under
$15 for 12+ 

Feb. 15 

Grant Co. Animal Outreach Microchipping and adoptions
4-H Building
$55 for microchipping
Adoption fees vary 

Feb. 28-March 1 

Columbia Basin Home and Garden Show
Commercial Building
Free admission 

Feb. 28-March 2 

Wenatchee Kennel Club Agility Trials
Ardell Pavilion
Free admission  

March 4 

Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Business Expo
4-H Building
Free admission 

March 7-9 

Barrel Spring Warm Up
Ardell Pavilion
Free admission  

March 8-9 

NW Gun and Knife Show  
Commercial Building
$10 admission fee 

March 15 

Spring Farmer’s Market
Commercial Building
Free admission 

March 14-23 

Click It RV Show
South Field
Free admission 

March 21-23 

North Central WA Junior Livestock Show
Ardell Pavilion
Free admission  

April 3-5 

Sand Cup Futurity  
Ardell Pavilion
Admission TBA 

April 10-13 

Barrel Daze
Ardell Pavilion and Harwood Pavilion
Admission TBA 

June 14-15 

Monster Truck Nitro Tour
Blue Parking Lot and Rodeo Arena
$19.95 Adult
$10 Children 2-12  

Aug. 12-16 

Grant County Fair  
Youth $4.50
Senior $4.50
Adult $7 

    Grant County Fairgrounds Director Jim McKiernan stands on the table during last year’s fair orientation. The fairgrounds are getting around $1 million in upgrades for the upcoming season.
  

    New lighting will be installed throughout the fairgrounds and at all of the entrances. Fairgrounds Director Jim McKiernan said they are finalizing permits for lighting right now.