Fair Board, commissioners hold work session

 The Flathead County commissioners meet with the Fair Board today for a work session to discuss planning and project development at the fairgrounds.

The workshop begins at 6 p.m. at the county landfill office, 4098 U.S. 93 N. Public comments will be taken at the beginning of the meeting. The meeting is for discussion only; no formal votes will be taken.

Fairgrounds Manager Mark Campbell and the Fair Board have been working on a master plan for the fairgrounds that will outline and prioritize improvements over the next couple of decades.

Usage of the fairgrounds is at an all-time high. In 2012, the fairgrounds logged a total of 571 event days, with 194,623 people using the facilities in 2012.

Of those 571 event days, 365 were public events and 206 were private events. Last year’s primary and general elections added 14,000 to the attendance total on Election Day alone.

With the addition of the Expo Building and Trade Center facilities to the grounds in recent years, usage of the fairgrounds has steadily increased. The number of event days has more than doubled since 2008, when 249 event days were logged.