Fairgrounds receiving new horse barn

When the Boundary County Fair opens on Aug. 11, a new horse barn is expected to be available.

Bids for construction of the 80- by 24-foot barn will be accepted through Friday, June 20, said fair board chairman Gene Andrews. It's hoped construction can begin within short order.

“We're going to try and get it so we have stalls ready for the fair,” Andrews said.

The new barn will replace a 60-year-old pole building destroyed during a June 29 windstorm last year.

“It blew over,” Andrews said. “It just picked it right up, turned it 90 degrees and (it landed) up against the next barn.”

That barn was not damaged, but the horse barn was destroyed.

“It was just picked up like a kite,” he said.

The fair board received $18,000 in insurance, which will be put toward the new barn's estimated $30,000 cost.

“We've been scrimping and saving for a number years and the 4-H horse group wants to get sponsors for each stall,” Andrews said.

The new 10-stall barn will include all “the bells and whistles.”

In addition to bigger, more secure stalls, the barn will include lights, feeding troughs and running water. A place will be developed with hookups for two recreational vehicles.

“We'd like to rent them,” he said. “We have a whole lot of people who travel (Highway) 95 and want a place to board their horses.”

Come fair time, all of the available barn space for horses is expected to be occupied.