Sioux Center, Iowa — With the Sioux County Youth Fair starting this Saturday, some people are wondering about the future of the fair.
The City of Sioux Center owns the property that the fair has been using since the early 1970s, on the eastern side of Sioux Center, and they have given the fair advanced notice that in the future, they’d like their property back, as the usage of the area has changed.
Sioux County Fair Board President Craig De Haan says it’s something they’ve been discussing and researching for some time.
De Haan says while that remains the most likely possibility, there are some other ideas floating around as well.
He tells us that one of the concerns of the Sioux County Board of Supervisors is how much it will cost, and, especially given the current situation, how permanent will a new arrangement be?
Sioux Center Mayor David Krahling says some people don’t realize that Open Space Park is actually a half-mile wide and almost that long, and includes many facilities including the All-Seasons Center, the Tsunami Water Park, and the football field and softball field complexes, which are owned jointly by the City, Dordt University, and the Sioux Center Community School District. The Sioux County Fairgrounds are on city-owned land that is part of that park as well, and they share buildings with the Saddle Club. A museum of sorts on the park property will also have to move to an approximately 5-acre site at the Tower Fields park as a new indoor turf facility is planned for the area where it is currently located.
