There is a new addition to the seating at the Ravalli County Fair and Rockin’ RC Rodeo grandstands. In the past, the handicapped seating has been kind of hit and miss. There were benches set close to the fence with room for wheelchairs. But someone would invariably stand in front of the people trying to watch the events in the arena.
Last year, the Rockin’ RC Rodeo committee decided that the money raised at the Cowboy Ball would go towards funding a dedicated area for handicapped seating. They raised close to $15,000 for the project. This winter, the Ravalli County Commissioners agreed to make up the difference, and allowed the project to go through on the $25,000 project. Funds came from the Ravalli County Fairgrounds capital improvement fund.
The seating area will be accessed by a ramp situated right next to the grandstand on the south side of the main grandstand entrance. The platform is located in front of the ramp and will hold up to 70 people. This allows room for a person in a wheelchair, walker, or other special needs seating, and one attendant.
Melissa Saville, Fairgrounds Manager, said this will make everyone’s fair experience better. “Before, our handicapped guests would be sitting in the designated areas and people would just come and stand in front of them.”
Adam Reed of 3D Planning and Design in Florence designed the project and Sorum Construction, from Missoula, built the structure. All of the material arrived on 18 pallets with just a basic set of instructions. It was up to Jake Sorum and his workers to figure out what went where. When they first started, Sorum and his crew had to spread out all the items from all of the 18 pallets to make sure every screw, nut, and panel was there.
“It’s like a huge LEGO project,” said Sorum. “Once you figured out where one piece went, then it started to go together.”
The structure doesn’t include seating so the Ravalli County Fairgrounds Foundation has applied to AARP for a grant that will provide seating and also siding around the structure to keep the area underneath clean and free of kids. The AARP grant will be given in early August.
Although the handicapped seating is about five feet above the concourse, the people in the grandstand will still be able to see what’s happening in the arena.
“Everyone is going to have a great view now,” said Saville.
The Ravalli County Fair will be September 2 through September 5, 2020. The theme is ‘Blue Jeans and Rodeo Scenes.’