By Courtney Spradlin thecabin.net Copyright 2010 The Cabin. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Those integral in the near completion of the Conway Expo Center and Fairgrounds gathered in the 40-acre property’s expo center to cut the ceremonial ribbon to report their efforts and thank the appropriate parties.

Conway’s Mayor Tab Townsell was the keynote speaker of the event, attended by the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, the Faulkner County Fair community, construction partners, county officials and area business leaders.

Rik Sowell Architects, Inc. provided the plans for the acreage, and Salter Construction raised the structures.

Conway Corp. played a big hand in electrical work, Kathy Wyrick, vice president for marketing for the Chamber, said.

County Judge Preston Scroggin thanked road crews and the Conway Street Department for their work on the facility’s grounds.

The idea of the placement of the Faulkner County Fairgrounds, just east of town, on Highway 64, was one brought to city and county officials by the Hart family.

“We are thankful that the Hart family made this land available to the city of Conway,” Townsell said.

Townsell said the grounds, especially the expo center, will not be forgotten for the calendar’s remaining 51 weeks after the Faulkner County Fair.

Townsell said the facilities are booked through the calendar year with 30 to 40 reservations, which include the Taste of Conway, scheduled for October, and Dazzle Daze in November.

According to Townsell, the expo hall is 45,000 square feet, the pavilion for livestock, 54,000 square feet and the not-yet-completed event center, 14,000 square feet.

The expo center will safely hold 2,719 people, approximately 5 percent of Conway’s population, Townsell said.

The $6.6 million project will be paid for by the Advertising and Promotions’ “hamburger tax.”

The completion of the fairgrounds was part of a plan formed in 2005 to “increase quality of life in Conway by enhancing the quality of place.”

“This is a promise kept by the City of Conway. We hope we have delivered what we have promised,” Townsell said. “It’s yours, enjoy it.”

The first event to take place at the Conway Expo Center and Fairgrounds will be the Faulkner County Fair, slated for Sept. 21-25.

(Staff writer Courtney Spradlin can be reached by e-mail at courtney.spradlin@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)