The Webster County Fair Board has been working hard the last handful of years to bring improvements not only to the Webster County Fair, but the fairgrounds itself.

Cory Krug, Webster County Fair Board president, has been active on the board for four years and during that time, he has witnessed a lot of growth.

Horse arena

Krug said the Fair Board partnered with Iowa Central Community College, which allowed for some much needed improvements to the horse arena. This included a new roof and improvements to the indoor arena, as well as a new outdoor arena featuring extra lighting and an announcer’s stand.

“Many people may not be aware the fairgrounds is also the home of the college’s rodeo program,” he said. “This allowed for them to have a premier arena. That was much needed. Our old arena was in bad shape.”

Auditorium

One of the board’s main focuses has been the auditorium.

“That building is used heavily for a lot of different public fundraisers. We hold flea markets in there, weddings and more, and of course it is used during the fair,” said Krug.

Updates to the kitchen were made as well as to the lunchroom area.

There was a light overhaul of both the west and east sides of the auditorium as well, which included a new bar on the west side.

“We gave them a fresh look. New coats of paint. New lights. It just gave it a more professional look for events,” he said.

Camping

Krug said additional camping spaces have been made available on the northwest side of the fairgrounds.

“Our fair has been growing. We feel it has probably doubled in size in the last couple of years, so we have added some additional camping for that,” he said. “We have plans in the future to add even more camping. We continue to hope for more growth in that.”

Other improvements

The picnic shelter, which is one of the first structures seen when people pull into the fairgrounds, was given concrete flooring.

“People spend a lot of time during the fair in there and people will stop out and sit in the shelter on a nice day,” he said.

One of the rapidly growing livestock projects for the Webster County Fair has been the goats and sheep. Recently, concrete was added to that barn as well.

Grandstands

A transformation began last summer at the Webster County Fairgrounds when the Webster County Fair board broke ground on the new grandstand area.

Krug said they have made great progress on the project, but there is still plenty to do.

By moving the grandstands and racetrack further east, closer to U.S. Highway 169, the Webster County Fair Board is anticipating the updates to bring more opportunities, comfort and attention to the grandstand events.

“We have been running into problems with parking during the fair — especially when our grandstand events come in. We have a carnival that takes up space,” said Krug. “We had a need to move the track and grandstands for several other reasons. The crowd will no longer have to face the sun and it will get better attention being closer to the highway.”

Krug said the new Figure 8 track is approximately 25 feet wider than the previous track, making it now 500 feet long and 210 feet wide with a 55 foot width around the track.

Krug said they have also improved their pulling track and moved the pit area down to the end of the track.

The added space and new design will also allow for events that aren’t on the regular schedule to happen without tearing up the regular track areas as they have had to do in the past.

“This will allow the grandstand area to be more versatile,” said Krug. “We also have UTV races, tough truck races and we’ve been getting some interest to bring back moto-cross races. We now have the space for those types of events to occur so we don’t have to tear up our regular tracks like we have had to in the past.”

For 2021, Krug said they are planning to wrap up most of the phase one segment of the project. There are plans for adding new LED lighting on the track, if not other areas of the grandstand and getting the area fenced in.

Phase two, he said, involves plans for a beer garden with a full indoor restroom facility.

“Those things are grant and donation dependent,” he said.

Phase three for the grandstand improvements includes new, covered aluminum bleachers.

“That is very expensive — close to the million dollar range at $750,000, so we know that is down the line,” he said.

Currently the Webster County Fair board has a foundation in place to help raise money for these and other projects for the fairgrounds.

“That foundation is looking into grants and other fundraising efforts they can do to help some of these things get moved along,” said Krug.

Outside of the grandstand renovation project, Krug said one of the biggest events for the fairgrounds planned for this year is a Figure 8 Nationals.

Dubbed the “All Iowa Figure 8 Nationals,” Krug said people from across Iowa and out of state will be invited to race during the two-day event planned for the end of September.

“We are hoping it helps Webster County bring in a lot of people and help continue to promote the growth of Figure 8 racing because Iowa is, per capita, one of the largest states that host Figure 8 racing,” he said.

A conservation station

Settled in near the wooded area just east of the auditorium is a log cabin that was delivered in November.

The cabin had been at the campgrounds at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge since 2008.

Cody Peterson, operation supervisor at Webster County Conservation said the cabin was built back in 2007 by the Iowa Central Community College Carpentry program.

Krug said he is excited to have the new addition to not only the Webster County Fair, but to the fairgrounds, as he hopes it can be utilized for more than the one week the fair is held.

During the fair, it will give Webster County Conservation a better presence at the fair.

“The cabin makes a good fit for that,” he said. “During the fair, there will be a lot of exhibits set up around and inside of it.”

The cabin will possibly be available as a rental unit during the off-fair season.

“It is possible we will have camp stalls on the side and then people can do a camp with a cabin,” he said. “It will probably get a lot of the similar use it did at Kennedy in the off-season, then for a week during the fair it will be converted over.”

A district fair

Krug said a lot of these additions and improvements can be attributed to the project supervisors and project leaders. Together, they have decided to expand the Webster County Fair livestock shows in 2021 by adding a district fair.

“Although we will still have a county fair, with county champions, a district fair allows for neighboring counties to come and show at the Webster County Fair,” he said. “We just felt it was something that helps us expand. Gets more people to Webster County. It helps provide more competition for our kids locally as well.”

Krug is hopeful holding a district fair will help expand Webster County’s youth’s interest in showing more livestock.

“This should help with growth of the programs locally,” he said. “It depends on the year, we are really strong with our goat and sheep programs and our poultry programs, but we would really like to see some growth in our swine and cattle programs.”

Looking ahead

With growth in some of the livestock programs and the decision to make the Webster County Fair a district fair, Krug said they are currently working to secure funding in hopes of adding another building near the area of the outdoor horse arena, which will allow for expansion of the sheep and goat programs.

There are also plans to expand the indoor arena and update the building with additional insulation and the restroom facilities.

The fair board would like to expand the swine barn with a show arena. The poultry project, he said, also needs a show space.

Talks are in process of a new learning center for use during the Webster County Fair.

“It’s going to be full of all kinds of ag education opportunities,” Krug said. “People can go in and learn more about what is popular in Webster County — from what we grow, and some different things they may not be aware that are happening.”

Some smaller projects include playground facilities for youth to use both during the fair and the off season.

“It’s all about prioritizing which of these things we do first,” he said.

A lot of these projects call for more than just money.

“We are always looking for board members. Or, if someone has a specific interest in something, we have different committees,” he said. “To continue this growth, it is obviously depending on not just a financial standpoint but from people to take a vested interested in it and dedication to help make it happen.”