Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
An overhaul of the Junior Fair Building on the Shawano County Fairgrounds has been zero-funded in the county’s capital spending plans for next year.
The Shawano Area Agricultural Society had requested $125,000 in county funding and offered to raise another $45,000 to upgrade the facility used by 4-H club members and families throughout the annual county fair.
Society officials had hoped to complete renovations to the 50-year-old structure before next year’s county fair.
The Shawano County Board on Wednesday approved $1 million in capital improvement projects for 2016 without including any funds for the proposed improvement on the county-owned fairgrounds.
The action was approved by a 19-8 vote without any mention of the fairgrounds project.
Among the funds approved in the capital plan was an estimated $500,000 for interior renovations to the county courthouse, $93,000 for Heritage Park improvements, $76,000 for sheriff’s department ventilation upgrades, $20,000 for new library computers and $50,000 for Mountain Bay Trail bridge repairs.
The capital spending plan will be included in the county’s overall 2016 budget, scheduled for approval later this year.
For the county fairgrounds project, agricultural society representatives had proposed rebuilding the Junior Fair Building walls, installing a new roof and doors, adding a 4-foot-tall concrete base, installing insulation and new interior lighting, and repainting the exterior in red and green colors.
Nobody from the society addressed the county board Wednesday before the project was zero-funded.
County officials had previously indicated that the fairgrounds improvement was proposed too late in the annual capital spending process to be eligible for funding in 2016.