Saline County Livestock Expo Center looks to expand shows, upgrade
The Saline County Livestock Expo Center is expanding, improving its facilities to host more events and shows in the coming years.
For many years, the expo center was known for hosting livestock shows, including horses, cattle and other animals, but interest in these events has taken a slight dip compared to former years.
In an effort to boost community awareness of the events, and improve their facilities as a whole, the expo center staff has broadened their focus and are looking into providing new opportunities that people have expressed interest in.
David Flaherty II, director of the expo center, said there are several improvements on the books and in discussion within the next year.
“We’re happy with what we have done, but we’re looking forward to more things to get people and the community involved with us here,” Flaherty said.
Being a place for community gathering
Flaherty, with the help of Tony’s Pizza Events Center, has entered a five-year contract with EquiFest of Kansas, which guarantees one of the largest trade shows in the Midwest a home in Salina for at least the next half decade.
The event is a huge economic driver for Saline County each year, bringing anywhere from 11,000 to 15,000 people into the local community.
“This will be huge for Salina and Saline County,” Flaherty said.
Another show happened just this week in the Ag Hall – the annual Salina Charity Horse Show. The event had a good turnout this year, Maintenance Supervisor Jeremy Bowman said, and estimated about 78 horses showed this year.
Each year, the charity horse show comes out to Salina and donates to a local charity. This year, it was St. Francis Ministries.
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Events like the horse show are exactly what the expo center is known for. And while they won’t deviate from those experiences, they are making both small and bigger adjustments to provide a larger range of community involvement in their spaces.
“We’re trying to get a wide range of things in this facility,” Bowman said. “It’s great when we see new faces and these events are good at bringing them in and keeping them coming.”
Expo center staff are responsible for Kenwood Park grounds, including Ag Hall, the 4-H Building, Kenwood Hall and livestock barns. They also coordinate scheduling of events and support for the Tri-Rivers Fair.
Most recently, the expo center completed modifications to the 4-H building. They added a new sound system, projector and screen in the rental space, which also includes a kitchen available for full use.
These smaller additions don’t seem like much, Flaherty said, but could actually mean a big difference in attracting people to reserve the space for conventions, meetings and other kinds of events.
The expo center is meeting with a sound engineer to put in a sound system in Kenwood Hall, too, so both buildings can accommodate more people looking for space to reserve. Eventually, they want to get TVs installed in their buildings to showcase sponsors and future events at the expo center.
“These are small things that will help us do bigger things in the future,” Bowman said. “Anything from auctions, to wedding receptions to meetings to concerts, dances – we’re looking at getting a wide range of things in here.”
Investing in the future
Beyond the small changes to the rental spaces they maintain, the expo center wants to expand the variety of shows they host in their facilities.
From more horse shows and cattle shows, to goat, sheep and hog shows, they have a vision for inviting more diverse crowds to their facilities.
“If we can get people behind us and the public to actually know what we do – they all think we’re completely tied in with (Tony's Pizza Events Center) and we’re not – but it’s important they know we’re here,” Flaherty said.
Ag Hall remains a big part of this effort. It has brought in all sorts of events in the past – monster truck shows, a circus, tractor pulls, concerts and more.
While some of these events are no longer happening in the historic Ag Hall – built in 1929 – they are looking at bringing some back, particularly the tractor pulls and the community those might attract to their facilities.
“This place has been used – it’s definitely been used,” Bowman said. “The first show that was in Ag Hall was in 1930 – it was the Mid-America Livestock and Horse Show. So, this place has some history to it.”
Flaherty stressed that all their horse shows and events are open to the public, unless otherwise advertised as private.
Advertising these changes and improvements has proven difficult for Flaherty and his staff. It’s something his department has brainstormed solutions to for a while. But the local government-run operation is just doing what they can within their means.
“There’s several times we’ve just had a horse show and people come in like ‘did you guys just have a horse show? Man, I wish we’d known sooner,’” Bowman said.
Flaherty said the expo center doesn’t really have an advertising budget, so the best way to hear about upcoming events is the new county website and their Facebook page.
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“With all the upgrades, trying to get things, we have to sink all of our money in here,” Flaherty said.
Bowman said the expo center is working on building a donation fund for some of the planned facility improvements.
“That way we don’t have to keep coming back to the taxpayers every time we want or need something new here,” Bowman said. “Plus, it will be another way to foster community involvement.”
Overall, Flaherty said he appreciates the support he has gotten so far and offering more for his community will remain a top priority going forward.
“I love every group – every group we hold in here has been tremendous,” Flaherty said. “Our motto is ‘if we can’t get you coming back, then why are we here.’”
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Saline County Livestock Expo Center plans updates, looks to future
