County Event Center coming to Grace

Board of County Commission Chairman Mark Meadows expressed the sentiment that it will be nice to have “something physical to show for the ARPA money” that the county was awarded during the COVID budgeting years.  APRA funds were used to help local and state governments through the period of massive economic disruption, and were primary used by counties across Idaho for needed infrastructure, communication, and support service upgrades.  An event center was seen as a good destination for the some of those remaining funds, in combination with other grant funds that were currently available.  The total price tag is around $3.8 million, with the majority of that coming from
external funds.

The event center will be constructed at the County Fairground location in Grace, on the site sitting the block south of the main fair facilities.  While several trees may have to be removed, the building will otherwise not impact the existing facilities, and provide a modern, well-equipped location for both needed county services, as well as event rentals
and hosting.

The Extension Office, currently located in the County Annex building in downtown Soda Springs, will be relocating its offices to the new Event Center, and permanently occupy one section of the building.  This will allow for publicly open classes, such as workshops covering weed control, canning, irrigation, livestock issues, and many other topics, to be held in comfortable and technology-equipped classroom areas.  It will also allow for 4-H classes and projects to be undertaken near the Fairgrounds where the 4-H routinely puts on events.

As part of the arrangement for the Center, a multi-vehicle bay for the Grace Fire Department will be constructed attached to the building, allowing the GFD to act on behalf of the county to respond to fires on the western side of the county.  At present, members of the GFD have to travel to Soda Springs in order to equip and move vehicles out to fires on the western side of the fire district, losing valuable time and property in the process.

An Event Center which is similar in size (excluding the bay) and function was built in Oneida County around five years ago, and has been very successful at meeting community needs, according to county officials.  Like the Event Center planned for Grace, it allows for a consolidated place to hold elections across the county, host civic events too large for other locations, and provide a suitable location for necessities such as large public hearings or town
hall events.  

Lundahl Construction out of Logan won the bid for the project, and it will begin as soon as feasible this spring, with its completion anticipated in time for next year’s fair.  During this year’s fair, construction will be halted in order to minimize the disruption to Fair week.  Staging for the construction machines will take place on site of the construction itself or at the county shops.  It is hoped that the building itself will be framed and up before winter weather sets in, allowing for interior construction over the winter months.  

Rowdy Larkins of the County Building Department will be supervising the project as it moves along.  “This will be a good thing for the county.  We’ve definitely needed something like this.”