The President of the Owen Sound Agricultural Society is optimistic the renovated Victoria Park Grandstand will be ready to go for the upcoming fall fair.
Hillary Breadner says they are working towards finishing the refurbishment of the grandstand, which the city ordered closed last year over safety concerns.
“There has also been demolition of the lobby area off to the side of the grandstand, and hopefully if everything goes well, we will be ready to have a full fledged seating area grandstand for the fall fair,” says Breadner.
She says the new grandstand will look different, as it will have seating all the way to the ground to allow for more seating and be more accessible.
“We will have the use of the underneath portion of the grandstand as well,” says Breadner.
The work on the grandstand started after receiving an unsafe order from the City of Owen Sound June 13, 2022.
“I feel like the grandstand, not only has it been around for more than 70 years, it just has so many memories for a lot of people. A lot of those memories are to do with the fall fair and the grandstand is a one of a kind structure that’s not really seen anywhere else around this area. It is just worth saving,” says Breadner.
The Owen Sound Fall Fair is set for Sept. 8 and 9 at Victoria Park and Breadner expects there to be a good crowd.
“We are bringing back the demolition derby. we haven’t been able to have a demolition derby since 2019 and a lot of new events for this fair like a horse show, we have family favourites like the antique pull and the local truck and tractor pull,” says Breadner. “We hope everyone will come and enjoy everything that we put together for them,” says Breadner.
She says they have received support from the community to help fund the project and offset the $115,000 project. Those who would like to assist can visit the society’s website here.
