7/31/14 Expo center off the map at Harvest Ridge, but plans for a large event facility continue behind the scenes

  • By Nick Sabo
  • July 31, 2014
  • 405
                        
SUMMARY: Expo center out as fundraising efforts focus on 2014 fair. An exposition center at Harvest Ridge has been moved from the forefront in favor of completing the new Holmes County Fairgrounds, but interest in a facility for large events has not faded. The exposition center, once key to Harvest Ridge, has been struck from new plans that show the minimum number of buildings necessary to hold a fair in 2015. In its place is an open area designated for commercial exhibitors’ tents and 4-H displays. With the first fair to be held at Harvest Ridge scheduled for next year, the Holmes County Agricultural Society and Harvest Ridge project manager Tom Wilke are focused on fundraising efforts aimed at the fairgrounds only. However, while the expo center has been moved out of sight, it is by no means out of mind. Holmes County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau Executive Director Shasta Mast said groups with an interest in the expo center have bowed to the need for the fairgrounds to come first, but efforts continue behind the scenes. “We’re really all on the same page, that the most immediate need is to move the fair. That is the priority,” Mast said. “All resources at this time must be directed at the fair.” The agricultural society is trying to raise $1.7 million to complete the minimal plan for the fairgrounds. According to Wilke, only four new structures will be needed to have the fair at Harvest Ridge in 2015. These buildings are the equestrian facilities, a large animal barn, the show arena and grandstands. Two completed buildings at the new fairgrounds - the Baker Building and a restored century barn - will also be incorporated into the fair. From the earliest plans for Harvest Ridge, the community heard much about the expo center, proposed as a 60,000 square foot structure. For the chamber and local business groups, it is seen as an economic engine, giving a home to locally organized events that are currently being held elsewhere, as well as drawing in outside promotions. The need has not gone away, Mast said. The area’s wood furniture industry has an interest in an annual show held in the county, and the chamber is contacted regularly by promoters looking for a place to hold their event, Mast said. “Holmes County still has a need for a venue for large events,” Mast said. “We get calls all the time asking to rent the two buildings we have completed, but we can’t rent them out because there are no utilities out there yet.” Currently, a grading project is underway at Harvest Ridge, shaping the topography to conform to the plans for the new fairgrounds. Once the grading project is completed, work on water utilities are scheduled to begin. Even with the four new buildings, the 2015 fair will likely include a good number of projects and exhibits housed in tents, Wilke said. The parking lots will probably be grass. Even in a minimal state, the fairgrounds will be able to host small events, Wilke said. Wilke estimates that these events could bring in as much as $120,000 per year directly to Harvest Ridge.


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