Wilson Logistics Arena in its first year at the Ozark Empire Fair

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Ozark Empire Fair is underway and this year is the first season for the new Wilson Logistics Arena.

The old space was demolished to make way for the new, which opened in January. Staff with the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds say they are glad to have it back up and running.

There are many events scheduled in the arena during the fair – from livestock shows to monster trucks. Carson Thomas, the livestock director with Ozarks Empire Fair, says the Wilson Logistics Arena is unique because the floor is not dirt year round.

“When you go to a lot of livestock shows, like nationwide, it’s, they’re more than likely going to be on fairgrounds but they don’t do like BMX, they don’t do football games in their arenas,” Thomas said. “They don’t, they don’t do a lot of that stuff. So, this is a little unique for the industry.”

Thomas says unlike the old arena, some events in the Wilson Logistics Arena need a concrete floor and some require a dirt floor. The staff brings truckloads of dirt in and out depending on the event.

Although the old arena already had the dirt, the one has a cool perk of its own – air conditioning. Last year it was still under construction, which required some schedule changes but this year it’s all back to normal and some shows can be even better than in years past.

“We didn’t have our full-blown draft horse show because we didn’t have a place to have it,” said Aaron Owen CEO of the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. “They can do a lot bigger hitches than they have been before. This arena is three times the size it used to be, so it’s a full-blown professional-size arena for the draft horses.”

There is more to the Wilson Logistic Arena than just its use during the fair, the arena sees around 35 different events throughout the year and specific planning goes into scheduling them.

“We do try to schedule events that come in here based on what the floor looks like,” Thomas said. “If it’s just the concrete or if it is loads of dirt, we do schedule it that way.”

During the fair the arena is set up for a dirt floor to host things like a rodeo, monster trucks shows and draft horse shows. Throughout the rest of the year, some events like Ozarks Lunkers games use a concrete floor, but a BMX competition will use a dirt floor.

All of these events throughout the year have increased the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds overall economic impact.

“Economic impact last year was projected around 40 million and we hope to end up in 2024, very close to 60 million in economic impact,” Owen said. “And if you go back to 2007, our economic impact was 14 million. So a huge swing from where we were to where we are.”

If you are interested in checking out the new arena there will be a mini donkey show Monday afternoon, the draft pony shows later this week, and you can still look forward to the rodeo on Friday. Click here for more information about the fair and events for the rest of the week.

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