With the 2026 Southwest Washington Fair and the Washington State Garlic Festival over and done, Lewis County is continuing to carry out improvement projects at the fairgrounds.
Friendlyville, located on the southern end of the fairgrounds, is the next area in line for some tender loving care.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners awarded a bid Tuesday morning for paving, regrading and stormwater drainage work to be done in the Friendlyville portion of the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.
The approved contract for the work agrees to pay $139,500 to Taycon LLC, a Rochester-based company.
Much like work started on the fairgrounds’ midway in June, the project seeks to level out and repave the Friendlyville area and improve the stormwater drainage system.
According to Lewis County Infrastructure Specialist Matt Patana, preparatory work on the project is already underway and crews are likely to break ground in the coming days.
“By the end of this week, we’ll be moving forward and they’ll be moving dirt and doing some grading,” Patana said.
According to the contract, the biggest parts of the project include pouring 10,400 square feet of new asphalt and installing equipment underground to improve the stormwater drainage system. Other parts of the project include installing additional lighting and black fencing in the area.
According to Patana, the project is expected to be completed toward the end of winter, with the contract stipulating a March 31 deadline. The deadline includes potential enforcement actions by the county, including a $1,000-a-day fee to the contractor for each day that the project runs over.
Patana added that the county hopes to install underground components, including a large infiltration gallery of more than 40 feet in length and 14 feet in width by midway through October. If the equipment cannot be installed by that date, it will likely be put off until a later date, depending on weather conditions.
The Friendlyville project is getting started at the same time as the county resumes work on stormwater drainage down the midway stretch of the fairgrounds, which it started toward the beginning of the summer.
As previously reported, that project, which comes with a much bigger price tag near $1 million, is expected to be completed no later than Oct. 1 due to stipulations included in the work contract.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Southwest Washington Fairgrounds infrastructure updates, visit https://tinyurl.com/4x4yp6sk.
