The Celebration Centre in Lyons will be adding a new, open sided building north of the Bar K Bar Arena to provide cover for the outdoor livestock stalls.
The Rice County Community Foundation board approved the project at their March 25 meeting.
The roof cover is necessary to protect animals during inclement weather and will shelter 48 stalls. The building will be 52 by 124 feet similar to the one in the accompanying photo. The estimated cost will be between $60,000 and $70,000.
In making the announcement, J. L. Herold, president of the Foundation said “We have a number of events that need more animal stalls than we have available inside the arena. In order to keep these events from going elsewhere and at the same time in order to attract new events that need extra stalls, we felt the new enclosure was absolutely necessary. In recent years we have tried to cover these stalls with canvas and it hasn’t been very successful so we sought a more permanent solution.  
We already have commitments from First Bank and Kenny Knight for $15,000 each in the form of matching donations, so we need to raise at least $30,000 more for the match. We hope to get the community involved to help us fund at least that amount. We welcome donations of any size.  Individuals or businesses donating $750 or more will be credited with “buying a stall” and will get their name on a plaque to be prominently displayed in the Celebration Centre.
The Celebration Centre and Bar K Bar Arena bring in a substantial amount of out of town dollars that ultimately benefit our community. These are wonderful facilities and all of Rice County has reason to be proud of them. We hope local individuals and businesses in Rice County will step forward and follow the lead of First Bank and Kenny Knight in donating to this project.”
Anyone who wants to donate should call Cheryl Miller at 620-257-5390.