What started out as a conversation has ended up as the single-largest appropriation in the history of the Macon County Fair to the tune of $250,000.
The plans are to re-roof, re-paint, put an HVAC system in the D Building (after this year’s fair), put in paneling, and put LED lighting in all the buildings. Fair board member Dennis Conley said work is already done on the lighting installation of the D Building. The money will come from the 2023-24 state budget, which Sen. Kevin Corbin said will be finalized in June.
“The state puts together a budget every year… there are a few million dollars for the whole state for things like this, it’s called Designated Capital Improvements,” Corbin said. “You fund the schools, you fund public safety, you fund other things, then you got this little pot of money that individual senators can ask for special projects. For example, I got money for Habitat for Humanity…and several others in my eight-county district, but this was the largest single allocation.”
Conley and Chuck Sutton of the Macon County Fair said it was a “stroke of luck” that the fair and its structural needs came up in a conversation with Corbin.
“It was very encouraging when we had our meeting and within a week and a half to two weeks, we found out it was a go,” Conley said. “We’re hoping to get started in mid-June.”
The Macon County Fair is currently the only purely agricultural fair in the state and the only free fair, according to the fair board members.
Conley said this is a capital expense for building improvements and doesn’t take the place of the donations the designated 501(c)3 Macon County Fair gets to keep the fair running.
“Basically, if it’s an organization that’s nonprofit and does work for the greater good of the public, then it’s perfectly acceptable to use state funds for,” Corbin said. “I felt like it was a good use of state money.”
Corbin said the original request totaled around $200,000, but that after getting bids in and accounting for inflation, it would be closer to $250,000. According to Conley and long-time board member Tex Corbin, the last state appropriation the fair received was no more than $50,000.
When the HVAC renovations to the D Building are completed, the hope is to rent out the building year-round.
“And the most important part is when I hang my children’s masterful artwork, if it rains, it’s not going to get dribbled on,” Sherry Cook said.
Tex Corbin said the A Building was the first building constructed on the current grounds in 1960, with the barn following in 1961.
The Macon County Fair, held each September, drew around 8,000 to 10,000 people combined over the four days in 2022, which Conley said was up 40% from the year before and up from the pre-COVID years. Conley said the estimate is because there’s no way to track actual attendance since the fair has free admission.
“If we can show improvements to the buildings and show we’re trying to make it look better, I think that’ll help us in the long run too,” Conley said.
Conley said that besides the annual fair, the grounds are used every fourth Monday for the MANNA Food Bank distribution, as well as multiple events by the Macon County Horse Association. The county and high school use the property frequently, such as for the upcoming rodeo on May 19-20 sponsored by the Franklin High School Future Farmers Association. The annual Taste of Scotland Celtic Festival and Highland Games on Father’s Day weekend in June rents the facility.