Grandstand events good to go at the Olmsted County Fair

(ABC 6 News) – Monday marked the first day of the Olmsted County Fair and every year there are a few changes like a new vendor or ride.

This year it’s a change to the grandstand.

A few months ago, the 85-year-old grandstand was deemed unsafe after a routine inspection. The fair board and the county worked together to come up with a solution to still have their popular grandstand events this year. Temporary bleachers have been brought in so there’s no fun lost at the fair.

“It started with research into what temporary bleachers are. What they are like, what they rent, can we get close to our capacity. So we quickly went through that research process and in about a week we found a couple different companies and settled on one that had enough to support our needs. So, we are little bit shy of what we normally could handle, probably a couple hundred people. But pretty dang close to what we would normally be able to support,” said Fair Board Member Brandon Helgeson.

Helgeson says that the grandstand events are vital to fair operations as it’s one their main sources of funding.