By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

COVINGTON, Ind. — Just in time for the Fountain County 4-H Fair, leaders of the organization are getting ready to reveal plans for a $2 million makeover of the dilapidated fairgrounds and the nearly 60-year-old 4-H Building.

The goal is to create a modern multipurpose facility that will be a beacon for education, healthy living, community development and economic growth.

“This will be a multiuse facility that not only will benefit 4-H but the entire community,” said Josh Foxworthy, swine superintendent and member of the Fountain County 4-H Club Council. “Hopefully it will generate more 4-H members than we have.”

The plans, which will be rolled out at the fair before the Queen Contest on Saturday, include a complete renovation of the 14,000 square-foot 4-H Building to make an attractive event space that will be available for rental. The plans also call for a new, 8,000 square-foot addition to the existing building, which would house the extension office, two classrooms, a conference room, a computer lab and a fitness center.

“We want it to be a building that is used all year and generates money for 4-H,” said Amanda Smith, Fountain County extension educator. “We want it to be used by the whole community.”

In addition, the old Commercial Building will be torn down and replaced with a larger temperature-controlled facility that can be rented for auctions and other events, and the structures at the back of the fairgrounds will be renovated or replaced, except for the Goat Building. Smith said it will probably take at least three to four years before the new Fountain County 4-H Education and Event Center is completed.

Smith said moving the extension office from the current location in the Covington courthouse basement to the proposed facility at the fairgrounds is a crucial component of the remodel. “For one thing, our office is too small and has no educational facilities. And it’s not handicap-accessible, which is a major problem,” she said.

She also pointed out the fairgrounds are centrally located in the county, especially since a majority of the county’s 4-H members live in the Fountain Central school district. “The fairgrounds are neutral territory for everybody. It’s the one space in the county that people from all three major cities feel is theirs,” she said.

The classrooms and computer lab will be used by the Fountain County Learning Network, an organization that provides continuing education for residents in the county. Smith said the main focus of the educational facilities will be job retraining, health and fitness information and various programs for youth. The fitness center would feature weight training equipment, treadmills, elliptical machines and an indoor walking track and locker rooms in the main room in the 4-H Building.

“We’re hoping to make the health and fitness center available through a swipe card system, so it would be available to the community 24/7,” Smith said.

The Fountain County 4-H Club Council, which owns the fairgrounds, is hoping to raise the $2 million without having to take on a big debt load. “(The facility) certainly comes with a big price tag, but we’re hoping that through grant funding and local support we’ll be able to generate the revenue to put it together,” Foxworthy said. “I think the support is there for it in the community.”

The council had initially planned to kick off a fundraising campaign at the fair, but decided to hold off until the fall, when all the costs involved have been nailed down.

 “We don’t know what form the fundraisers will take, but we’re going to roll out (the project) at the fair to get the community excited about it and create awareness that this is going on,” Foxworthy said.

Fairgoers will also be able to fill out a small survey about the proposed 4-H Education and Event Center, and have the opportunity to view a three-dimensional model of the facility, designed by Terry Burnworth, a Seeger graduate and architect with Indianapolis-based Pyramid Architecture and Engineering.
Smith said getting community support for the project will be essential, and she stressed the potential economic benefits to the county.

“We want to make this a local project and we want to use as many local contractors as possible,” she said. “All three major towns will see an increase in traffic if we can attract events to this facility.”
Responding to concerns the new facility will detract attention from the 4-H programs, Smith said, “This will do nothing but enhance what we’re currently doing in 4-H. We’re looking for it to increase 4-H enrollment and outreach to the community.”