PUTNAM COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - A project at the Putnam County Fairgrounds is taking shape and looking to become a multi-use space for years to come.
The commissioners and contractors sat down to get an update on the new event center. The below-zero temperatures have slowed parts of the construction process, but the over four-and-a-half million-dollar project is expected to be finished in May. Around half of the money came from federal funding, the rest from the county. Besides space for the fair events, the building will be the largest rental space in the county, and it could also serve as quarantine space if we have another pandemic or emergency offices if other disasters happen.
"After the Ohio train derailment, we looked at what is called a COOPs (Community of Operations Planning) plan for emergency relocation of the facility of the courthouse," says Michael Lammers, Putnam County Commissioner. "This has obviously updated bandwidth and IT capability. So, we could continue to function the county government if we had to abandon the downtown area."
When the building is complete, it will be an asset for the county for years to come, compared to the over 70-year-old structures that the event center will replace.
"Those buildings were so bad, one of the walls was literally pushed over with the hands. You didn't have to demo anything. So, those buildings were in desperate need of repair, they were built in the 50s near as we can figure out," adds Lammers. "That was huge, and this building should last 50 years or so. Since it's our grandkids' money that is actually paying for it, we thought we needed something that would be good for the taxpayers and the constituents down the road 50 years."
The event center and the renovated grandstands will be ready to be used at the Putnam County Fair in June. Some people are already asking about renting the center when it is complete.
