BOZEMAN — There's a lot of space for various events at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. To keep up with the community's needs, the staff is asking for public input on how to improve the space in their master plan.
The Gallatin County Fairgrounds has been serving the community since 1902. As the fairgrounds get older, Director Caitlin Quisenberry, says it could use some updating.
"There's a lot of spaces here that are very historic, very well loved, but could use an update," says Quisenberry.
"The fairgrounds master plan is not a singular vision," she adds. "It's not singularly my vision as the fairgrounds director or the commissioners' vision as the commission. This is trying to be a comprehensive view of what the community wants."
The fairgrounds hosts many events and organizations such as weddings, hockey leagues, 4-H, and the fair which brought in over 46,000 people last year.
There has been previous speculation that 4-H was going to get kicked out of the fairgrounds and fair programming—a rumor that Quisenberry says is not true.
"4-H is definitely a part of the history of the fairgrounds, is part of the history of the county, and no one's looking to kick them out," she says. "We're looking to bring them into collaboration and seeing how we can build something better for all of us."
On Feb. 29, the fairgrounds is hosting an open house and focus group discussion that’s open to the public, giving community members the opportunity to share their thoughts on the future of the fairgrounds.
"The success of this place moving forward is going to be on the community coming out and sharing their visions," says Quisenberry.
After the open house, there will also be an online survey available on the Gallatin County Farigrounds website.
