The barns and the RV area at the Graham County Fairgrounds, in addition to the racetrack, will be shut down until at least Jan. 1 for renovations.

According to County Manager Terry Cooper and Fairgrounds Director Casey Faunce, updating the fairgrounds has been needed for years.

On July 7, Faunce presented the idea to Cooper and the Board of Supervisors, and it was approved. No vote took place because it was an administrative decision, not a voting item. The five or six people living in trailers and working at the fairgrounds were initially told they had to leave the premises by the end of the month. That date was later changed to Aug. 8 to give the people a full 30 days notice.

David Trobee, a horse groomer at the fairgrounds, was one of the people upset with the decision. He felt he was having his job taken away and said he didn’t have anywhere else to go.

He also said Faunce didn’t think of how this would affect the people living and working at the fairgrounds.

“(Faunce) doesn’t like us (workers) anyway,” he said.

That is not the way Faunce sees things. “It’s not personal,” he said. “We would love to have them (workers) back when everything is ready.”

According to Faunce, Trobee is also incorrect about not having anywhere to go. He said the Greenlee County Fairgrounds in Duncan will take in the workers and their horses right now. Calls by the Courier to the fairgrounds director in Duncan and the county manager were not returned by press time.

Several areas of the Graham County Fairgrounds need work and repair. The biggest project during the renovation will be the implementation of a new irrigation system. One of the things the new irrigation system will allow the county to do is to build four new baseball fields and two new soccer fields.

Graham County residents have lobbied for more soccer fields for the last couple of years. “They have about 800 kids signed up for soccer this year,” Faunce said.

The fairgrounds currently has two public access ponds, and the renovations include widening and beautifying a pond in the middle of the racetrack.

Structural damage to the outside posts and rails of the racetrack also needs attention, and electrical work also needs to be done to make sure things like the starting gate operate properly during horse races. A pumping station will be placed close to the racetrack to make watering the track quicker and easier between races.

Faunce said it’s the responsibility of him and the Board of Supervisors to make the fairgrounds an attractive destination and a fun experience for all county residents.

The money for the renovations is from a Community Block Deve-lopment Grant. Faunce said the money from the grant must be used within a year from Aug. 1, which was part of the reason the decision came this month.

The renovations are supposed to be completed near Jan. 1, but Faunce said it could take slightly longer. He said it will have to be ready in March because the fairgrounds will host horse races that month.