Work on Hill County 4-H Chuckwagon building moves forward

Hill County 4-H members and the contractor hired to build a new Chuckwagon at the Great Northern Fairgrounds gathered by the existing structure Thursday to plan the next steps.

The 4-H Chuckwagon Committee members announced they selected Clausen and Sons as the lead contractor in the project.

"Basically, the community needs to know where we are at and that we are finally going to break ground," Chuckwagon Committee member Lue Waite said.

Dave Clausen, with a drawing of the new planned building in hand, joined  with members of the 4-H Committee, Chuckwagon Committee, 4-H Foundation and Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean as they surveyed the site.

"It's pretty much in the hands of Clausen and Sons, they know what they are doing, we just got the ball rolling," 4-H Foundation member Stacey Waid said.

Parts of the existing Chuckwagon are up to 81 years old, with the most recent added on in the 1970s, Clausen said.

Waid said the foundation and committee voted at a Feb. 28 meeting to choose Clausen and the project.

As of Thursday, $330,000 in cash had been raised with as much as $60,000 of in-kind contributions, she said.

The new Chuckwagon will be a  50-by-140 foot steel-beam building with two bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, storage area and two exhibit areas.

Waid said that, unlike the current chuckwagon, which is in operation five times a year, Hill County 4-H hopes the new facility will be used year-round.

She said the aim is to demolish the current structure after this year's Great Northern Fair, scheduled for July 19-23, then get started on dirt work, the pad and building the actual structure. The goal is to have it completed by the 2018 Great Northern Fair, she said.

The Great Northern Fair Board's Grounds Committee has suggested building the Chuckwagon closer to the Bigger Better Barn, but Chuckwagon Committee Chair Lon Waid said that unless or until the Grounds Committee comes up with an alternate plan, the new Chuckwagon will be where the existing building now stands.

"We just want to put it in the best place suitable and, for right now, we have to go ahead with the plan and that plan is at our original site," he said.

When Waid went before the fair board Tuesday, he said the 4-H Hall of Fame Museum that sits between the Chuckwagon and the Beef Barn might have to be torn down to make room for the new building.

Clausen said Thursday that the Hall of Fame would not have to be torn down if the site of the new Chuckwagon is shifted about six feet west from where the existing structure stands.

A letter from the 4-H Foundation says they are soliciting commitments from contractors and individuals to help with the design of heating and electrical systems for the new facility.

People interested in making commitments to the project can call Clausen at 395-5400.

Though they have raised a majority of the needed funds, Waid said, 4-H is still seeking cash and in-kind contributions.