Standing in the vacant horse arena at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Monday, a collection of state and local officials envisioned a new facility that would spur the local economy while helping to train the next generation of Lewis County equestrians.
“It’s a long time coming,” 20th District state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, said.
When completed, the officials said a 180-foot by 240-foot covered equestrian center would serve as the centerpiece of a project to help revitalize the fairgrounds.
“That’s been a dream of the fairgrounds for a long time, to have a first-rate equestrian facility,” Lewis County Parks and Recreation Administrator B.J. Kuykendall said.
As the ranking member of the House Capital Budget Committee, Abbarno secured $206,000 in the capital supplemental budget toward “site-specific study, planning, design and engineering of a covered equestrian center.”
Abbarno also highlighted legislation to help “fix the financing mechanism for the fair and the county.”
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