LIMA — It is one of the central buildings of the Allen County Fairgrounds, and after 17 years, the grandstand is getting a facelift.
Part of the fair’s yearly capital improvements program, renovations included not only repainting the structure, both the exterior and interior, but also performing minor millwright and welding work, along with adding hand railings, to keep the structure in good working order.
“We had a structural analysis done this spring,” General Manager Bob Fricke said. “We had some minor millwright and welding work that needed done, so we got that done, and 10 days after the fair, Brian Bros. Painting out of Piqua won our contract bid, and they’ve been in working ever since, and today, we’re putting top coats of paint on.”
In an effort to create a more festive atmosphere and match other recent building renovations, such as at the PotashCorp Event Center, the traditional grey has been replaced with what Fricke described as a more vibrant blue, beige and white color scheme.
“It’s the center, and because of the size of the structure, it’s viewable from both state Routes 309 and 117,” he said. “This will have a heavy blue base, with accents of red and white. It’s going to be colorful and very noticeable. We’re just trying to modernize the look.”
The warmer weather has helped crews accelerate their work, and Fricke is hopeful that the outside shell of the grandstand will be completed within the next seven days.
“As soon as the exterior is done, they want to start working on the interior,” he said.
Fricke is hopeful that work will be completed well ahead of activities picking back up at the fairgrounds in May of next year.
“We’re right into major events then, and we want to make sure everything’s done well in advance,” he said.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
