Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation has announced plans to spend millions of dollars to renovate the livestock barns on the fairgrounds.
Foundation executive director, Peter Cownie, says the cattle, horse, sheep, and swine barns will each get an update.
Cownie says the barns have a constant flow of visitors and exhibitors through them during the fair’s run.
The renovations are expected to cost around 25 million dollars. The Blue Ribbon Foundation fundraising effort has already received 12 million dollars from the state’s “Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund,” along with five million dollars from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, and Jeff & Deb Hansen of Iowa Select Farms have committed two million dollars for the Swine barn portion of the renovation. Cownie says they will have more details on the renovation schedule when they meet in October.
Cownie says the work on the Iowa State Fairgrounds is like anyone has with their house: there’s always something that needs to be worked on to keep it up.
For more information on the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation visit www.BlueRibbonFoundation.org.
