Great Northern Fairgrounds employee Dustin Odegard, 16, paints tables in the Beef Barn at the fairgrounds Tuesday morning.
With the carnival slated to arrive, exhibit buildings filling up and nighttime and free stage entertainment booked, the manager of the Great Northern Fairgrounds said Tuesday that the 2012 fair is coming together.
Fairgrounds Manager Tim Solomon told the Hill County Fair Board at its monthly meeting that setting the event up nearly is complete, including planning work to get roads and parking improved before the fair starts Wednesday, July 18.
He said the material is arriving to work on the county-maintained portion of the fence around the beer garden, as well.
Solomon said he has not yet seen the Havre Youth Baseball Association, which operates the beer garden as a fundraiser, working on its portion of the fence.
Solomon also said work is proceeding to upgrade the building that used to house the fair office, school exhibits during the fair and, until the late 1990s, the H. Earl Clack Museum.
He said that the museum board and museum manager removed several display cases during the museum’s move to the east end of the Holiday Village Mall. That has opened up additional space and, essentially, added a couple of windows, Solomon said.
He said he plans to do some renovations including painting in the interior and exterior of the structure.
“It will become more of a usable building, ” he told the fair board.
Solomon said before the meeting that he believes the improvements to the building will help the fair’s efforts to increase rentals of the building outside of fair time.
