Fair board reshapes vision for complex, self

Repair of pavilion roof, public poll and new modeling software frame fair board’s next steps

By Darryl Swan

The South County Spotlight, Nov 4, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

ADVERTISEMENTS

After years of watching the Columbia County Event Complex’s premiere venue slip into disrepair, and parts of the fairgrounds sit idle in the realm of revenue potential, fair board members are saying enough is enough.

The 11,500-square-foot pavilion building at the complex has seen better days. After last week’s rain burst, several puddles have collected on the octagon-shaped pavilion’s concrete floors, and the only thing protecting the main electrical panel from a steady water drip is a clear sheet of plastic.

“We are already putting out buckets in that building,” says Fair Administrator Ronda Courtney.

But relief is on the horizon. Mike Malarkey, a Scappoose resident, of Portland’s Malarkey Roofing Products donated materials to fix the pavilion building’s roof. The donation allowed the fair board to hold down its expense on the roof repair to under $50,000, and work there has begun.

Sale of a two-acre piece of the fair’s 72-acre complex to the Columbia River People Utilities District for a new substation, an action that has gone through the ironing out phase for the last two years, is nearing completion.

Fair planners would like to see the $200,000 generated from that sale go toward improvements at the fair so it could better serve as a Columbia County commodity.

In fact, the fair budget reflects the sale revenue, though it’s not likely that all of those funds will flow into the fair’s bottom line.

“We really haven’t decided,” says Columbia County Commissioner Rita Bernhard, who is the county’s designee to work with the fair board. Bernhard acknowledges that the pavilion building’s roof is in dire need of repair, and said the Malarkey donation is a “godsend.”

County fairgrounds receive money from several sources, including a transfer from the county’s general fund — really state money intended for economic development purposes — and direct state lottery dollars for agriculture programs.

In 2009, the fair had anticipated $37,000 from concerts expected at Columbia Meadows, though an unfavorable economic climate for big concerts scuttled those plans. Next year, the fair is banking on $20,000 from those concerts, though it’s a gamble that might not materialize if the luxury market for ticket purchases doesn’t improve.

Those uncertainties from outside funding sources, says fair organizers, is really at the crux of their latest dilemma: How can the fair evolve into a self-sustaining beacon for county economic development?

Steve Knebel, the newest addition to the fair board, says he feels the burden is fully on the fair board and Courtney.

1 | 2 Next Page >>