Muscatine County Fairgrounds

Muscatine County Fairgrounds located in West Liberty, IA were placed on the National Registry of Historic places in 2015. The Commission received a Historical Resource Development Program Grant to nominate the West Liberty Fairgrounds to the National Registry of Historic Places. Substantial community effort ensued to successfully place the Fairgrounds as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Several Fairgrounds buildings were in need of maintenance/restoration attention

A successful partnership of the Muscatine County Fair Board and the Commission secured funding and completed the restoration of several of the Fairgrounds buildings and facilities. The Commission received a Historical Resource Development Program Grant to nominate the West Liberty Fairgrounds to the National Registry of Historic Places.

A subsequent successful partnership of the Muscatine County Fair Board and the Commission secured funding and completed the restoration of the deteriorating swine building.  The construction has been funded by more than 100 private donors, plus several companies.  In total, $850,000 has been donated for restoration to date.

Swine Pavilion

Kent Corp. donated half of the $125,000 cost to restore the Swine Pavilion.

Midwest One Fine Arts Center

Ryan Building

Ryan Building after restoration. Private donations helped pay for the restoration of the 1915 Ryan Building, the main exposition hall on the north end of the grounds.  The building is used to show exhibits of antiques, baked goods, fruits and vegetables and needlework.  The project cost was $100,000 and was paid for by the Ryan Trust and Steen families.

Heritage Hall

Ampitheatre

Entrance

The original entrance was built in 1927, with brick columns and a ticket office.  With funds from the Lehman Family and Ken Wright, the county built a more accommodating, modern entrance.  Ken Wright Welding and Fabrication constructed an aluminum, arched entry sign, anchored by two new brick pillars.  The project cost was $9,200.  The fairgrounds will also have a new ticket booth for the first time since 1980, purchased by private donors for $3400.

Other Projects

New Restroom

New ADA accessible restroom and shower facility funded by donations from Kent Corp and private donors at a cost of $154,000.  This also included a new collections system, designed by Muscatine County, connected to the city of West Liberty sewer system.  The original restroom facility was completely torn down.