The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors discussed future plans for replacing the grandstand in Tuesday’s board meeting.
The grandstand, located in the Lincoln County Fairgrounds was damaged in a storm last June, causing the structure to be demolished for safety reasons. The Board discussed the possibilities of either replacing the grandstand with a structure similar to the original building, or using the insurance money toward building an expo center instead.
While the insurance settlement of $1.2 million would cover the cost of a replacement grandstand, constructing an expo center facility would require additional funding.
Board member William Zeitz proposed that by using the money to start a staged construction of an expo center, the county would benefit from the revenue such a structure would bring. On the other hand, Board member Hans Breitenmoser, Jr. felt that replacing the grandstand would be a safer investment for Lincoln County.
Board member Jim Alber introduced a resolution to the County Board in support of replacing the grandstand with a grandstand, and not an expo center. Alber had presented a similar resolution in March to the Public Property Committee, where it failed on a 2-1 vote. On Tuesday, the full County Board carried the resolution with a vote of 10 to 7 with John Bailey, Ray Bloomer, David Fox, Kortney Pike, Graham Rankin, Patricia Woller and William Zeitz casting nay votes.
The next step in this process is for the county maintenance director to come up with a request for proposal (RFP) that will be presented to the Board at next month’s meeting.