The Community Center in Ronan was dedicated in 1969, after untold months of work by the local Jaycees and Jayceens.

According to Dick Wunderlich, there just wasn’t any place in Ronan to have a community event. so the Jaycees and their wives, the Jayceens, decided to build one. They hosted pig roasts, sold hamburgers, and got the entire community involved in the process.

The Lake County commissioners gave the go ahead but told the group they would have to maintain the building.

People gave what they could, from a five-dollar-bill to in-kind donations of lumber, labor, nails, toilets, wire, lunches and concrete skills. High school students painted walls after the group got them up.

“It’s been a very long time since it had an upgrade, just because there’s no money,” said Sjaan Vincent, Ronan fairgrounds manager.

Sixty-four years, to be exact. But a new water and sewer system is nearing completion “and can go well into the future.” And ground was broken Nov. 9 to modernize restrooms, and update infrastructure, including the aging electrical system.

The fall and winter’s rain has “been a challenge” for the project, since it’s been so wet that workers couldn’t pour concrete until three weeks ago.

Danell Thingelstad Construction is doing the work, “and they’re awesome,” Vincent said as is Eric Huffine’s Wall and Slab concrete crew.

As of last week, a huge new generator was in place and the framing for the bathrooms was going up.

The community center has all new windows and a new front door.

“We’ve managed to round up enough money for new flooring in the kitchen,” Vincent said, remembering being on her hands and knees using a putty knife to scrape gunk from the floor. “We’re replacing the old island, and all the surfaces will be stainless steel and sanitary.”

The timeline for completion is this April.

The project’s funding has again been a community undertaking with involvement from the Lake County commissioners, grant writer Billie Lee, Mission West Community Development, Brenna O’Sullivan Fulks, Ronan Chamber of Commerce and its affiliated Ronan Renovation committee, and other community members.

Lake County received an American Rescue Plan Act grant in 2024 for a $325,992from the Department of Natural Resources for the fairgrounds’ water and sewer upgrade. Then a Mission West Community Development Tourism grant helped fund the community center infrastructure.

Friends of the Fairgrounds provided much-needed help for a concrete patio and roof along the north wall of the community center.

When Ronan received a Department of Commerce Tourism grant for $1.25 million to bring some of the town’s growth plans to fruition, $100,000 of those funds went to revamping the Community Center’s bathrooms.

The much-needed restroom makeover offers more capacity, a larger footprint, and the ability to have a large event going on in the community center and another gathering outdoors, with dedicated bathrooms and separate entries for each group.

This allows more flexible use of the facility since Vincent says she’s scheduling more events at the community center and fairgrounds, such as the Chain Carving Rendezvous and a pygmy goat show, that occur simultaneously.

“It’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of really good help,” Vincent said.