Wadestown, W.Va. — A replacement for an over ninety-five-year-old barn at the Battelle District Fairgrounds is now close to being completed.
The new 80-by-80-foot structure that will be the main barn at the fairgrounds has finished construction, and according to Clay-Battelle FFA Alumni Association President Keith Watson, final steps are currently underway to have it open for public use. The expanded steel-skinned barn will have a large livestock ring and will include modern amenities to host FFA or 4-H events.
“This barn here will be able to service a lot of other things other than just putting some animals in it and storing some things,” said Watson of the new structure. “So that’s our goal, to open up that opportunity for many, many more things to be able to be done,” he said.
The new $500,000 barn will be used at the upcoming Battelle District Fair as a way to break in the structure for live events. Electricity and plumbing are expected to be completed in time for the fair July 11 through 15 and are expected to improve the number of animals that can be presented at the fair with a larger audience able to watch. Watson states that any improvements needed for the structure will be undertaken so the longest running fair in Monongalia County can continue to thrive.
“We’re actually going to use the fair as a trial to see exactly what we’ve got to do,” said Watson on WAJR’s Talk of the Town. “We have a company willing to step up and help us do some fabricating of some pens and different corral-type things to make the building better,” he said.
Funding for the new barn came from several different public and private sector sources. Approximately $200,000 was approved by the Monongalia County Commission in August 2022. This was supported by $60,000 from the Economic Development Assistance Grant and $50,000 from the Clay-Battelle FFA Alumni Association, with the rest supported by various state government grants and private donations.
“I called it an in-kind; this is something that we ain’t writing a check for; it’s simply someone saying, ‘Hey, I’ll do this,'” said Watson. “That figure right now, to date, is over $150,000 on this project,” he said.
The new barn is expected to be fully completed by summer 2023 and will allow for events to be hosted there in the fall and winter. Watson stated that the goal for the barn is to have expanded community use, which he and the Clay-Battelle FFA Alumni Association will help pay for in the long term. As uses for the structure are determined through hosting events and activities, the goal is to maximize its use for the community.
“This is a community thing; I’m trying to make sure that the community can use it for everything they can, but we also have bills to pay,” said Watson. “We have bigger insurance to pay on the building, so in the upcoming events, I say yes, that’s a possibility,” he said.