New Year-Round Building Planned at County Fairgrounds

The Cortlandville Planning Board were presented plans for a new building at the Cortland County Fairgrounds by the Cortland County Ag Corp during their meeting last night. Matthew Sharpe, President of the Cortland County Holstein Club and board member of the County Ag Corp provided an overview of the project to the board.

Plans call for the construction of a 30′ by 40’ single story building with an 8’ covered porch. The building will also be air conditioned, something none of the other fairground buildings have and will be proven useful during the warm summer months, especially during the Jr. Fair in July. Sharpe added funds for the construction of the building came from a New York State Agriculture and Markets grant they received last year.

According to a project description provided to the planning board, the building will be used for meetings and practices for the local 4H and FFA teams and a meeting space for the fair board. The building is likely to be used at least three to four days per-month. This would be the only year-round insulated building on the fairgrounds. Currently, Sharpe says the 4H club meets at the County Office Building, but due to changes at the building, hosting meetings after business hours has become more difficult. This new space will also allow better flexibility for the scheduling of meetings or activities outside normal business hours.

Its location is proposed to be adjoining the corral to the north. The location also allows the covered porch to be utilized as an announcer booth for horse shows. It will replace an old green announcer booth that is showing its age and lacks proper functionality for announcers, including power.

The cost of construction is estimated at $131,000. Complete Construction Concepts will build the building, Sharpe said to the Planning Board. He added the building will be painted the same green color as the bathrooms located on the fairgrounds. Sharpe noted that work is also being done to obtain a grant to “spruce up” the remaining existing buildings on the fairgrounds with a fresh coat of paint in the dark green.

Overall the board had no major issues with the proposed project. Plans were voted unanimously by the board to be sent to County Planning, mainly due to the proximity of the project to another municipality, Cortland. County Planning will review and provide their recommendations during their next meeting in March.