PRESTON – The face of Preston is changing. New businesses come and go but there are government buildings in Franklin County which are establishing a future of the county. One of the new buildings is at the fairgrounds.
The entrance of the newly completed Franklin County Event Center is ready to be scheduled.
They have just finished a new building to house their home arts, food, crops and flower entries during the Franklin County Fair. The new building is located on the west end of the fairgrounds.
The county decided rather than having the building stay vacant when the fair is not in session, they put a twist on the fair building by adding two basketball courts marked for pickleball and volleyball courts. The building also has restrooms and a kitchen.
The building will replace three, old Quonset buildings that have seen better days. Instead of going to three different buildings to see fair entries, people can see them all in the same building.
They are calling the multi-use building an Event Center, and anyone can schedule it except during fair times.
Randy Henrie, a Riverdale resident, is the county building inspector and was the general contractor for many of the newer buildings.
“Randy drew up plans in February of last year,” said Lana Jenkins, the site manager. “It was approved by the county commission, and they broke ground this spring.”
The building cost was $2 million and is 180 feet by 110 feet building with 40 feet from floor to peak.
“This Event Center is a lot bigger than the Robinson building which is big enough for meetings,” she said, “and the Robinson Building can’t be used for athletic events.”
Jenkins said she has received a lot of calls from people expressing interest in renting the building.
“We are still building the bleachers and getting it ready for events,” she said. “The first one is (Saturday, Jan 10, 2026). The city recreation has rented it for basketball. “
The parking lot is going to be paved in the spring.
“The parking lot is big and is going to take a lot of black top,” she said. “It will have painted stripes and the landscaping will happen next spring.”
Jenkins said everyone is excited to see where it will go from here.
“Box Elder County has a similar building and when I talked to them, they said their building is used every day,” she said. “Caribou County is also working on a similar building.”
Henrie has quite a legacy of buildings in Franklin County. He was the general contractor for the Courthouse addition, the ambulance building, the health department building and other small projects.