The low bid for the construction of 67,000-square-foot Expo Center at the new Putnam Fairgrounds came in some $150,000 under budget.
Mayor Randy Porter said the county received eight different bids for the project. Porter said that represents a shift from recent years when rising construction costs often forced officials to scramble.
“We felt good about it,” Porter said. “You know, in the past, past couple years building prices have went up so much that most of the time when we were seeing bids come in they were above what we had budgeted and we had to look at trying to cut things in the buildings or wait on it a while and rebid it.”
Porter said the contract covers a complete, lock-and-key construction of the entire building. Porter said the new Expo Center can house trade shows, conventions and large events.
“So it’s going to be considerably bigger,” Porter said. “And the difference between the two buildings is the Convention Center is, was built for meetings and dinners, banquet-type stuff. The Expo Center is being built, it’s wide open building, concrete floor, so you can have all kinds of boat shows and car shows and tractor shows.”
Porter said the county is also exploring the purchase of portable flooring that could be placed over the concrete to accommodate volleyball and basketball tournaments.
Porter said the facility is expected to generate millions of dollars in tourism revenue through hotel-motel and sales taxes as visitors shop and eat in the area.
“We think it’ll be a multi-million dollar tourism addition to uh to what we’re already doing with tourism in Putnam County,” Porter said. “I think it’s going to be pretty big. Hotel/motel tax and sales tax is where you usually see the benefits from it.”
Porter said the Expo Center is being built at the new fairgrounds campus located next to the Convention Center. Porter said the project is part of a multi-phase master plan that has already seen the completion of the midway, the arena, and one of two new barns.
“I want us to go back to winning and becoming the best fair in the state and then also to bring in all these events and tourism dollars because the more tourism dollars that we bring in, that helps us keep the rest of our property taxes lower in Putnam County,” Porter said.
Porter said the final phase of the campus will involve building a covered arena for livestock and roping events, which the county hopes to fund through a grant of approximately $1 million to $1.2 million.
Porter said construction on the Expo Center is slated to begin in August and should take between 12 and 14 months to complete.
“We already got people that are trying to rent it and we don’t even have it built yet,” Porter said. “So I think that that’s a pretty good example of how popular it’s going to be.”
Porter said the new fairgrounds location provides more parking and larger spaces than previous sites, which will allow the county to host a larger fair. Porter said the ultimate goal is for the facility to attract enough tourism dollars to help keep property taxes lower for Putnam County residents.
“I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be a great facility down there and I think it’s going to get used a lot,” Porter said.
