Editor’s Note: This article was updated Jan. 20, 2023, at 8:30 am to reflect that the fair board’s executive committee recommends holding off on the expo center. The full board of directors will vote on the recommendation at the February meeting.
MOUNT VERNON — After creating a five-year $5.893 million capital improvements plan, the executive committee of the Knox County Agricultural Society (aka Senior Fair Board) recommends holding off on a potential expo center at the fairgrounds.
In a November 2022 meeting with the commissioners, fair board directors said they did not have a complete list of improvements needed. Since then, directors Jim Ruhl and Regis Fowler, along with County Administrator Jason Booth and insurance agent Michael Percy, did a walk-around risk assessment of the fairgrounds.
“It was eye-opening to ourselves when there’s nothing obstructing your view,” board president Ruhl told the commissioners on Tuesday. “There’s a lot to be repaired.”
The repairs list includes handrails, deteriorating concrete, roof repair or replacement, garage doors, and downspouts and gutters. The improvements list includes signage warnings, beef barn cool down, electric upgrades, and an ADA ramp access for the grandstand.
“With that list, we’re at almost $6 million. If we try to prioritize that, we’re at more than a quarter of a million dollars every year,” Fowler, board vice president, said.
The expo center is on the list, designated a low priority for year 2026.
A potential expo center came about when directors learned that money was available through the state’s capital budget. They had a tight deadline to submit a request; their submission was for a $3.5 million expo center.
When the state approved an appropriation of $500,000 last year, the approval included two conditions:
•It had to be for an expo center, which meant it had to meet certain use requirements; the money could not be used for a barn.
•It was a reimbursement appropriation, which means the fair board has to pay up front and then seek reimbursement.
Additionally, the ag society would have to complete a needs assessment at a cost of $10,000. The assessment would evaluate all of the other venues in the area; housing, hotel, and lodging options, including in surrounding communities; and a maintenance cost analysis, among other items.
The $500,000 would go toward design services and other preliminary work. If the ag society received no additional funding in future years, the remaining $3 million would come from the community.
“Going by this [improvements] list, we don’t think it’s feasible to go forward with that [expo] building at this time,” Ruhl told the commissioners.
“We’re not going to spend $500,000 and then not have it finished,” Fowler added. “Not with that list of repairs.”
The executive committee’s recommendation is to return the $500,000 appropriated for the building. The full board of directors will vote on the recommendation at the February meeting.
The commissioners agreed that given the current list of improvements, it makes sense to hold off on the expo center.
Removing the expo building from the list still leaves an estimated $2.393 million in improvements over the next five years. The list is not all-inclusive and will be updated as other needs crop up.
Fowler said that in addition to $50,000 the board set aside for improvements, the ag society will receive part of the $4.5 million the state just appropriated to the counties through the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“We will get about $50,000 from that. We are just not sure when we will get it,” he said.
High- and medium-priority items for 2023 total $233,600. Higher-priced improvements include the following:
•New restroom facility (in process)
•Asphalt repairs
•Animal barn roof coating
•Beef barn cool down
•Multi-purpose building roof repair
A specific focus is cooling down the beef barn.
“It’s one of our high priorities due to the safety of the animals,” Fowler said.
