Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through the gates of the Polk County Fairgrounds since it opened in 1953. Many of the fairgrounds’ buildings in Rickreall are 75 years old and need electric and water system maintenance as well as significant seismic upgrades that would cost millions of dollars.
Polk County is out of ways to pay for that maintenance, and this year’s fair could be the last. It’s a common situation among fairgrounds in Oregon because county governments typically subsidize those facilities with general fund dollars.
Polk County will ask voters in the Nov. 3 election to raise residents’ property taxes to pay for repairs and other fairgrounds expenses. If voters decline to approve the levy, the fairgrounds will close, according to officials…