County commissioners considered a variety of options for upgrading the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

At a retreat Thursday, commissioners discussed a preliminary plan for the direction of the Flathead County Fairgrounds that was drawn up with the help of a consultant a year or more ago. 

Elements of the drawing included parking in much of the area of the race track, expansion of the Trade Center building and a kiddie land.

Commissioner Cal Scott said he agreed with an idea Holmquist suggested earlier that Wyoming Street divides the fairgrounds and creates challenges for using it.

“If we could have the road to the east side extended all of the way to the north and then across towards Meridian, we then could secure the entire 52-acre parcel and better use that land,” he said.

Scott added that the fairgrounds needs storm sewer and electrical infrastructure addressed before addressing anything in the plan. 

Commissioner Pam Holmquist confirmed that she did bring up taking Wyoming all the way up and over the top to Meridian. 

“If you go out and look, it’s already there,” she said. “It’s just a matter of punching the road through and putting the pavement down. I think that should be part of the strategic plan.”

She said she would need more information before she was on board with eliminating the race track. Holmquist acknowledged that this is just a plan and doesn’t mean it happens that way.

Scott said the board was discussing multiple use for the interior area of the track, calling it dead space. Holmquist said all the space is actively used during rodeos and mentioned the popularity of Indian relay racing.

According to Scott, the board discussed an alternative of keeping the race track that isn’t reflected in the drawing.

“What we’re trying to do at the fair is we’re trying to use 4-H kids, carnivals, exhibits, grandstand shows, rodeos, demolition derbies, Indian relay races, and so on to draw people to this ground so we can charge them $5 so we can pay for the facilities,” Commissioner Gary Krueger said. 

He said that any event or exhibition, whether the concerts or carnival, that doesn’t make money or draw people to the fair has to go away. Otherwise, Krueger said the taxpayer has to pay for it.

He said the same applies to the horse races. 

Commissioners agreed that they had enough plans and wanted to start doing something very visible such as planting trees or maybe a place for the elderly to rest. They discussed community collaboration using groups such as Flathead Industries, 4-H, master gardeners and Flathead Valley Community College construction students.

County Administrator Pence said the fair has a small amount of capital improvement money: $40,000 to $50,000. He said that beautification and trails don’t involve a lot of money and can be done with county workers.