­FFA is getting a new home

Jay County FFA is getting a new building at the fairgrounds.

Foundation work has been completed for the space located next to the East Arena. (It’s located where the Classics tent — it has been moved to Floral Hall this year — had been traditionally set up.) Plans are to relocate a barn used for harness racing and repurpose it into a building for FFA members at Jay County Fairgrounds. The Robert and Joyce Lyons FFA Pavilion will be completed sometime this fall.

FFA’s current structure on the fairgrounds is a red pavilion located next to the Farmer’s Building, along with a nearby silo. The space is used annually for a petting zoo at the fair. (Next year it will likely become a spot for additional seating.)

At 30 feet by 50 feet, the new barn will serve as a larger, central location for FFA members to operate out of while on the fairgrounds. Jay County Junior-Senior High School ag teacher and FFA advisor Katie Loy said the new barn will give FFA members more space to host activities during fair and serve as a gathering place throughout the year. It’ll also have more storage capabilities.

“I think I’m just excited for the opportunities,” said Loy. “Everything’s always changing, and so I think that this opens the door for some new changes and some better things to hopefully come for us.”

In 2021, Jay County Fair Association applied for a $180,000 grant through Indiana Standardbred Association to remodel one of the harness racing barns on the east side of the fairgrounds.

A representative from the organization visiting for a race suggested the fair board instead build a new barn, and removal of the old structure was included as part of the grant through Indiana Standardbred Association. From there, an idea hatched to repurpose the old barn into a space for FFA.

Building a foundation for the barn at its new location cost about $30,000. Jay County FFA secured a matching grant from The Portland Foundation for the project in 2022, which supplied about half of the cost. Longtime fair board member and retired FFA advisor Bob Lyons and wife Joyce Lyons — Loy’s grandparents — agreed to put up the rest of the funds. (Prior to the harness racing barn idea, Bob Lyons had originally offered to donate an old barn from his property for FFA, but it wasn’t in great condition, according to Loy.)

“The foundation said they’d go half on the slab if they could raise the money, so I volunteered to raise the money,” said Bob Lyons.

Lyons explained that the FFA’s petting zoo had been originally located on the north side of the fairgrounds before moving to its current pavilion. He believes coming change will enhance the Farmer’s Building acts and performances while giving the petting zoo its own spotlight.

“My humble opinion is the best place on the fairground is where people come and go, and that walkway gets a lot of traffic,” he said. “So, they’re going to be, I hope, they’re going to be as accessible as they have been.”

Although traditionally FFA has hosted a petting zoo at the fair, Loy pointed out the organization has been asked to do petting zoos at a variety of different events in the area. She noted several of the animals they have at the petting zoo, such as goats, are already on display in the other barns.

With a larger space, she said, the group could shift its current petting zoo design next year to a more interactive and educational setup, such as the one displayed annually at Indiana State Fair.

“I think what we’re going to do is, kids are going to come up with ideas that they would like to see different educational and interactive things for people to go through and learn more specific about Jay County agriculture, Indiana agriculture and agriculture in general,” she said. “So we’re hoping that that can be more of an educational, self-led experience.”