New sheep and goat barn highlights Allen County Fairgrounds improvements

LIMA — Whether it’s stopping in to use the facilities or to check out the sheep and goat shows, visitors to the Allen County Fairgrounds will see some noticeable changes this year.

“I’d love to highlight some of the projects that people have to look forward to this year, and that we are very proud of,” said Troy Elwer, promotions and operations manager for the Allen County Fairgrounds.

The fairgrounds put up two new structures, a new sheep and goat show arena and a new maintenance building. Both projects were included in the state’s capital budget. The sheep and goat arena, a 9,750-square foot building, also received funding from the Allen County commissioners, Allen County Farm Bureau and Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center.

“It’s a much larger footprint than what the existing building was,” Elwer said. “And that’s great because our 4-H and FFA numbers in the sheep and goat departments are growing rapidly, and they were quickly outgrowing the space that was there.”

It’s more behind-the-scenes, but the fairgrounds also added a separate maintenance building, so the electricians and maintenance staff won’t have to share a space. It will also be used for storage for items that are only used during the fair, opening up more rentable space elsewhere on the fairgrounds all year long.

Anyone needing the restroom facilities should also see a drastic improvement, Elwer said.

“We’ve also done a massive renovation of our restrooms on the property,” Elwer said. “We’re epoxied all of the floors in all of the restrooms. We’ve epoxied the shower walls. We’ve put fresh paint on the ceiling and walls. We’ve put new countertops in. It’s a massive facelift from what was there.”

Also, working with the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the fairgrounds received a grant to improve access for all people. Workers added universal changing tables in the midway restroom facility, along with handicapped-accessible push-button door openers.

As a former fair kid himself, Elwer thinks the 1,400 junior fair exhibitors will especially appreciate the renovated shower areas.

“A lot of them have livestock projects. When they spend all day in the barns with their projects, and it’s late at night before they go back to the camper, we want to provide them a safe, comfortable, inviting space to take a shower. Really not much has been done to these facilities over the last several years, so I think they’re going to be really happy with what we have in store for them this year.”

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.