Saturday, September 6th, 2025
Steel arrives for Grand Event Center
By William Kincaid
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Steel beams and sidings have arrived at the site of the soon-to-be built Grand Event Center, a versatile venue designed to host livestock shows, concerts and much more.
CELINA - There's been a whirl of activity at the Mercer County Fairgrounds over the last few days as crews continue to unload steel and put the finishing touches on earthwork on the site of the future multimillion-dollar Grand Event Center, a versatile venue designed to host livestock shows, concerts and much more.
In a relatively short amount of time, various contractors have undertaken building slab preparation, established a recessed floor and started work on an asphalt milling parking lot. Additionally, the steel beams and sidings are now on site.
"It's exciting," said fair manager Cara Muhlenkamp. "We've got some concrete work that still needs to be done and drainage-type things that will still need to be done, but it's coming along."
Plans call for the construction of a 175-foot-by-400-foot facility featuring overhead doors, adaptable floors, removable animal stalls, a staging area and ample parking. It will be connected via covered walkway to Market Hall, which was completed in April 2024.
The combined venue, according to the committee behind the plan, will be able to seat nearly 6,000 people.
Numerous local contractors have been tapped to build the Grand Event Center, a project that will mark one of the most significant developments in the fair's 173-year history, propelling it to a whole new level.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Plans call for the construction of a 175-foot-by-400-foot event center featuring overhead doors, adaptable floors, removable animal stalls, a staging area and ample parking.
"It's important to us to be able to keep it all within Mercer County or to businesses that sponsor the fair and have an affiliation with the fair," Muhlenkamp said.
Due to funding limitations at the moment, officials plan to pursue the project in three phases. The first phase now underway entails the construction of most of the event center. The succeeding phases will see the creation of restrooms, concession areas, office area and additional stalling.
Phase 1 should be finished by next spring, and the substantially completed venue ready to be incorporated into the 2026 Mercer County Fair.
"It's our goal to be able to have equine out there and then also cattle out there and to be able to show in that space," Muhlenkamp said. "We're still working out the logistics of everything. … We've been having some significant blessings that kind of take us to the next step here."
Should that scenario materialize, fair board members have floated the idea of moving the poultry into the current horse barn.
"It would create more space in the barn for dairy, and then our team and I have some wild ideas of things that we would like to do with that additional space and hopefully be able to do some more educational components with livestock and agriculture," Muhlenkamp said.
The timing of the next two phases of construction of the Grand Event Center hinges on however long it takes to rope in donors.
"Whenever we get the next round of funds raised for the restrooms, that's when we will start on Phase 2," Muhlenkamp said. "We have a new staff member that we brought on here right before the fair to help with things, and so hopefully we can cover some more ground.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Earthwork continues at the site of the Grand Event Center.
"Every dollar gets us to the finish line, so if they want to call and talk to our office, we would be glad to help them - or if they would want to drop a check off at the Mercer County Civic Foundation, we do have an account set up there also."
The commitee has enough funds to complete the structure, siding and utilities, according to Muhlenkamp.
"We're still fundraising for the air conditioning for the facility, and then from that point it's all the extra things that we're working toward, and hopefully we can outsource that to local companies to help with the cost there," she said. "It's unfortunate, but the cost of building the large structure is almost comparable to the price that we're estimating for the restrooms, just because there's so much involved."
Ideally, another $5 million "would take us a long ways with the project," Muhlenkamp said.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Crews are busy preparing a site for the construction of an event center at the Mercer County Fairgrounds. The first phase of the project -- the construction of the bulk of the facility - should wrap up in the spring.
In August 2022, a group of stakeholders and business leaders laid out their ambitious vision of a spacious, modern event center that would fulfill the fairgrounds' mission of serving as a destination for residents to learn, play and grow.
The commitee teamed up with the county fair board to bring the concept to life, counting on the well-demonstrated generosity and pride of a community rooted in agriculture.
Much of the original plan that was unveiled remains intact, Muhlenkamp said. The overall project, including the conversion of the adjacent former county engineer building into Market Hall, was estimated at $12.5 million.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Muhlenkamp said about the soon-to-be erected Grand Event Center. "I think once I see the walls going up, maybe it will be more realistic to me. I feel like we've been talking about it so long - and it's been a dream for so long- and now it's finally happening. It's pretty exciting."
The Grand Event Center's eventual economic impact is pegged at about $1.7 million in discretionary spending per full single event, according to a fairgrounds news release.
The forecasted schedule of 15 events in 2027 on the campus would have an estimated economic impact of over $20 million in local receipts.
"The impact it's going to have on the community as a whole will generate the economic engine that we all need to continue to sustain this community," Mercer County community development director Jared Ebbing said at last year's Market Hall ribbon-cutting event. "But more importantly, it's going to continue to keep people wanting to come to Mercer County, wanting to visit Mercer County, wanting to live in Mercer County, all the great things we have. For that, I'm proud to be part of it and look forward to not only many events in this facility, but what's to come into the future."
