The Pond at the Fairgrounds is Gone

I've walked past this area, and even through it multiple times during the first weekend of the Fair. It wasn't until about the third day when my stepson Ethan said, "What happen to the pond?" that I realized the pond at the Fair was gone. What happened to it?

Remember the pond? It was behind the bleachers at the Outdoor Stage and also next to the Oasis. It is just dirt now so I contacted Fair officials to find out why there isn't a pond anymore.

“When we replaced the asphalt on the circle three years ago it started failing immediately,” said Lisa Barr, Chief Operating Officer of the Four States Fair. “We learned during investigation that the pond could have been a possible part of the issue so we decided to fill it in.

“We hated to lose the pond, but we had invested so much time and money into making the circle nice for pedestrian traffic, vehicles and other equipment for the many events that are held at the Fairgrounds. We had to do everything we could to make certain the new repairs and patches would hold," she explained.

Barr said the worse thing is that "we all miss the ducks!” The ducks have moved over to the nearby pond at Bobby Ferguson Park but she said “they still visit us daily.”

What are the future plans for the area?

“We are looking into several options,” Barr said. “We are going to plant grass and make a picnic area under the trees.” So many events now use the Fairgrounds and the circle for their events and even some use that area that we don’t think about like all of the kids that stay at the Fairgrounds during the weekends for barrel races and rodeos.

“We have a lot of room and many options available. The sandbox is such a huge hit at Sparks in the Park so we are looking into that possibility.

"Another thought is a volleyball court for the kids to use when they are staying over for barrel races and rodeos," Barr said.

While it may be sad not to see the lights dance off the water or watch the ducks swim around, I noticed the mosquitoes were not as bad now and there wasn’t a mucky smell either. Once the area is filled with grass, picnic tables and other fun stuff, the benefits should greatly outweigh the downside of losing the pond.