ROME TOWNSHIP— The fair board has gotten approval from the state to start work on the new livestock barn and arena at the county fairground.

“We got the clearance to go ahead and start,” County Commissioner Freddie Hayes said Monday afternoon. “We’re going to get the footer in this week. It’s looking like Thursday morning.”

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

Originally the pre-fab barn was to be placed on a concrete base that would take 14 days to cure. Now a fiber-reinforced concrete will be used with only two days wait before the barn can be placed there.

“I feel great,” Hayes said. “The kids are going to have a barn. We are going to work as hard as we can. I believe we can make it. We will stay right on it.”