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Tentative design released for fairgrounds campgrounds

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 8 months AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 13, 2020 11:48 PM

MOSES LAKE — Campgrounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds will — eventually — get a new look. Fairgrounds officials are working with a Wenatchee engineering and planning firm to develop a campground master plan. Tentative designs have been released for three of the campgrounds at the fairgrounds, the east, north and pavilion campgrounds.

Fairgrounds director Jim McKiernan said Monday that county officials have decided to start with the east campground. County officials have hired Erlandsen Engineering to develop the plan.

Officials are starting with the east campground because it accommodates the largest vehicles, McKiernan said.

The east campground is located at the edge of the fairgrounds property, overlooking land owned by Moses Lake School District. Camping spaces would be expanded to the property line.

The tentative plans include keeping the mature trees there, but planners would build new roads. Most campsite parking spaces would be angled. Water and electrical hookups would be replaced.

Money for planning was allocated out of 2019 real estate excise tax funds, McKiernan said.

McKiernan said the redesign was prompted by changes in recreational vehicles, mainly that they are longer and taller than they used to be. The current campgrounds were designed when campers and RVs were 12 to 20 feet long, and as a result some campsites are too small. Modern RVs are up to 40 feet long, some with multiple sections that slide out, McKiernan said.

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