Officials expect work to meet deadline

ROME TOWNSHIP — The project to build a new livestock barn and arena at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds appears back on track.

On Wednesday fair board members and county commissioners weren’t sure if the project would be completed in time for the 4-H Junior Fair in early July. But now that has changed.

“The barn is scheduled for delivery on Wednesday and the men will work seven days a week to get it up,” County Commissioner Freddie Hayes said Thursday afternoon.

“I called people on the state level and found out what we need and there is no time for mistakes.”

Hayes was fair board president when the barn project was begun.

In the fall Structural Steel of Canton was awarded the contract to construct the $400,000 structure, to be paid for from pledges. Ashland, Ky.-based architect Shawn Walker is the architect for the project.

This week results of a soil test showed that changes needed to be made in the design plans before the barn could go up.

“(Shawn Walker) will have to redo the plans to meet the criteria and put in more rebar,” Hayes had said on Wednesday.

Those plans will be taken to the state next week and Hayes expects approval quickly.

The original plan was to erect a prefabricated building on a concrete footer that had to cure for 14 days before the structure could be put on it. Now a fiber-reinforced concrete will be used with only two days wait before the barn can be placed there.

“I feel a whole lot better,” Hayes said. “We have more or less worked the last 24 hours. Everything is going to be fine. It can be done on this time frame.”

The fair is scheduled to begin Sunday, July 8.