GRANTS IMPROVE FAIR FACILITIES
AND STIMULATE RURAL COMMUNITIES

Several Kentucky counties have upgraded their fairgrounds facilities with grants from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. But the grants have done more than just fund new construction, the Kentucky Fair Council was told recently.

 

“This was Nicholas County’s stimulus package,” Mike Phillips, Nicholas County’s agriculture extension agent and a member of the county fair board, told the council during the Kentucky State Fair. “This provided a stimulus not just for the fairgrounds but for the entire community.”

 

“A lot of fairs hadn’t had any upgrades for a long time because the funds weren’t available to upgrade things like concession stands and rest room facilities,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “We thought this was a no-brainer for us to give these grants even though the Department’s budget has also been cut.”

 

The KDA will issue another $545,000 in October, raising the total amount of the grants awarded to Kentucky county fairs to nearly $2 million.

 

The new $100,000 multipurpose building at the Nicholas County Fairgrounds created a better environment for fairgoers and attracted people who never had attended the fair before, Phillips said.

 

Another $100,000 grant enabled the Hardin County Fair Board to buy and build new bleachers and rest room facilities.

 

“They are an asset to the fair as a whole,” said Larry Jaggers, chairman of the Hardin County Fair Board. “We have added several new activities because we’ve now got the facilities to accommodate them. This has been an asset to the community as well as to us.”

 

The 18 KDA grants issued in the first two rounds have funded construction of bleachers, rest room facilities, multipurpose buildings and other structures. The livestock facility in Clark County includes a covered area to tie and show cattle. Nicholas County copied that design for a livestock handling facility in the back of its multipurpose building, which has a large meeting area in the front.

 

For more information, contact Steve Mobley, director of the KDA’s Division of Show and Fair Promotion, or Stewart Gritton, county fairs coordinator, at (502) 564-4983.