Construction will start in a few weeks on an Agricultural Learning Center on the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City, only the second facility of its kind in the state.
Gene Gourley, a fifth-generation farmer from Webster City, says the plans for this ag education center have long been in the works.
“We have a company hired that’s going to come in and do the demolition of the floral building, and part of their plan is to construct a pad for the facility,” Gourley says. “Then we have a construction group, Ag Force out of Jewel, is the one our board has reviewed and selected to be the project contractor for it, and will oversee the whole construction of the facility.”
Gourley says donations for the center are continuing to come in and the work will begin this spring — as soon as it’s warm enough.
“Our goal is by July 1st, ahead of the Hamilton County Fair, that they will have that completed and hopefully, the facility will be utilized then during the fair, and then Kurt will have it for the school year to start this fall.”
He’s referring to Webster City FFA advisor Kurt Veldhuizen, who is thrilled the proposed center will soon become a reality.
“It’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility that I really see bringing those kids closer to what industry is, so that kids can see an actual representation of true industry and animal science, but yet, doing it bio-securely,” Veldhuizen says, “kind of building that connection between industry and the kids, and hopefully gets us even closer to the kids knowing what careers are out there.”
The first classes at the center are scheduled for late August. This is the second such center in Iowa. Muscatine is the home to the first.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)