FAIRGROUNDS BUILDING EXPECTED TO COST UP TO $600,000 / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, January 1, 1999

January 1, 1999

Estimates -- and they are only estimates, a Douglas County official stresses -- are in for a new multifunctional building at the fairgrounds, and the cost is pegged from $550,000 to $600,000.

Administrative services director Pam Madl said Thursday the estimates were based on "just asking around. They are general estimates. They are by no means the final figures."

Madl said members of the fairgrounds improvements committee found a building they liked and asked how much it would cost. Then they asked around about pouring concrete for a freestanding metal building that size -- 165 feet by 250 feet -- and got estimates for other aspects of the proposed project.

On Monday, commissioners will consider outlining a request for proposals for a design contract. Firmer cost figures will emerge from those proposals.

The 41,250-square-foot building would be a Morton- or Butler-type structure and would be multifunctional. Proponents of the new building, situated north of Building 21 in a site plan submitted to the city, said it would benefit not only 4-H programs but the entire community.

The building, which would displace one of the fairgrounds' three ballfields as currently situated in the site plan, would be big enough for an indoor regulation-size horse arena. Participants and organizers of horse events at the annual fair have expressed concern about the safety of the current outdoor arena.

But the building would be more than a home for horse shows, commissioners and members of the improvements committee have stressed. They envision it as a place that could be used on a daily basis for swap meets, auctions, and home, trade, farm and livestock shows.

Commissioners will review Madl's request for proposals at their meeting at 9 a.m. Monday at the courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

-- Deb Gruver's phone message number is 832-7165. Her e-mail address is dgruver@ljworld.com.