Work has started at State Fair Park to improve much of the electrical infrastructure throughout the grounds and in some of the barns and buildings. The $2.5 million project got underway in late April and is scheduled to be completed in early August.
“Our electrical system was pushing a hundred years old,” said Central Washington State Fair president and general manager Greg Stewart. “These upgrades were way past due in order to bring us into the 21st Century and for us to continue to provide year round activities on these grounds.”
Stewart said most of the upgrades won’t be obvious to the majority of visitors to State Fair Park because much of the power, telephone and other electrical is being placed underground.
A number of new transformers are being installed, and the lighting and electrical is being replaced in all of the barns.
Payment for the upgrades is being funded partially by a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Association. The Central Washington Fair Association is matching that amount with monies received from the sale of land on the east side of the grounds to the Yakima School District for the site of the Skill Center. Some help in funding the project also came from the Department of Agriculture.
The Fair Association is working with Huibregtse, Louman Associates engineers and Northeast Electric on the upgrades. In the process of the construction, Northeast Electric will be recycling all of the rocks and the asphalt that is unearthed in the project. That process includes sifting all of the dirt, extracting the rocks and asphalt, and then crushing it into gravel to be placed on roads and other areas of the grounds.
During the duration of the work being done on the updates some 40-50 people will be working on the project.
The public can follow the construction process via photos posted on the website www.statefair.org.
For more information about events at State Fair Park or the Central Washington State Fair go to www.fairfun.com.
# # #
|
