Two new buildings at the Guthrie County Fairgrounds are getting closer to reality due in part to grants they received from the Guthrie County Community Foundation.

The Guthrie County Fair Foundation recently received $23,047 from the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation and $1,453 from the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, both awarded through the Guthrie County Community Foundation. These dollars will go towards concrete pads for a new Art & Ag Hall and a conjoined Lions Club food and American Legion BINGO stand.

Fair Board President Grant Sheeder says they have 82% of the $200,000 needed for the buildings, and they are still urging the community’s support to raise $50,000 to receive an anonymous matching donation for the Art & Ag Hall. Sheeder stresses the importance of these capital improvements, “After talking to the experts, I mean outside of the fair board, it’s very difficult to spend that money to renovate those old buildings to the point that they are safe without spending more than the buildings are actually worth. So getting the new buildings built in an area where they’re not going to be touched by water from floods. I mean even before I was on the fair board they had a vision of moving a lot of these buildings and the flow of the fair out of that area next to the river.”

Concrete work for the buildings will begin next month, as the Board is also currently renovating the campground showers and restrooms. They recently received a grant from the Paint Iowa Beautiful program to paint their showers, tables, and displays.