Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-05-18

/
More Room for Exhibitors.
The casual visitor to the State Fair
! grounds the past week or ten days
! has beheld with something Of amaze
ment and a good deal Of satisfaction
the wonderful changes which have
taken place during the past few
months, and which have so trans
formed the general appearance OF the
enclosure as 10 make it almost unrec-
! ognizable to one familiar with the old
state of affairs.
When, at the close of the last State
Fair, it was announced that the AS
sociation had purchased about seven
acres of land adjoining the Fair
grounds on the west and north, and
! that decided improvements would fol-
! low, those familiar with the well
known energy and progressive natures
! of President Anton Reymann and Sec
retary Hook naturally looked for some
radical changes in the arrangement or
! the grounds; but not even the most
| enthusiastic and sanguine could have
| foreseen the result achieved in so
short a time, while the expenditure
of almost $4,000 which has been made
| by the Association considerably eX-
ceeds the total first cost of the Fair
grounds establishment, and is much
more than the Association cOntemplat-
| ed investing last fall when the deal
| for the additional land was closed.
AS the various changes progress
| ed, however, improvement after i'm
provement suggested itself as being
| necessary to the full consummation Of
the plan to have here at Wheeling
| the most complete Fair grounds in all
! this section of country, and so the
work went on, under the experienced
direction of Secretary Hook and the
active superintendency of Civil En-
| gineer Gilmore Browne, until now the
grounds show at a glance that money,
| time. labor and experience have been
combined in a most happy manner,
and the result cannot but meet with
hearty appreciation from horse
men, general exhibitors and the pub
lie at large. No finer race course ex-
lists in all this section of country, the
|
while the plans for the care and exhi-
bition of all classes of live stock and
general exhibits, while not yet fully
carried out, will be as far superior to
the accommodations on the old grounds
as a street arc light is to the gas post
of a few years ago.
Much work remains to be done,
mainly in the laying out of walks and
grass plots and the building Of pens,
stalls. stables and sheds before the
grounds will be in shape for Fair pur-
poses, but this work is all cut out,
contracted for. and will be pushed
right along. AS far as the race track
is concerned, it is completed, and with
a soaking rain and a little working
will be in the best possible condition
A big force Of carpenters is at work
on the grand stand, and it viii be
completed by the middle Of the COM
ing week, ensuring a grand opening
on the occasion Of the spring races
under the auspices of the Driving
Club of this city.
A representative of the Register
paid a visit to the grounds yesterday
as the guest of Secretary Hook, and
careful inspection of the enlarged en-
closure and the superior arrangements
fully warrants the statement that the
old Fair grounds have passed away
and that in its place is something so
superior in all respects that only the
location and old Main Exhibition
building enables one to fix his posi-
tiOn.
The additional ground has changed
the whole look of the enclosure, which
appears almost twice the size Of the
old grounds, and the removal of sew
eral hundred trees, the replanting Of
about one hundred and fifty of them,
with a couple of hundred new ones;
a change in the size and location Of
the race track, the new grand stand
upon a new site, and the entire re-
arrangement of the pens and stalls
make the landscape wholly unfamiliar
and the visitor is puzzled to locate old
landmarks and localities.
AS stated above, this has cost about
$4,000, Of which $4,000 represents
the cost of the additional ground, Sl0,-
900 the new grand stand and accessor-
les. s.. 800 went for grading, as much
more for tree planting, fencing, sewers,
water pipes, etc, while many other
incidental expenditures account for
the rest of this very large sum.
The new grand stand is a magnifi-
cent structure. with ample accOmmo-
dations for four thousand people. It is
32SX4S feet in dimensions, the top tier
being thirty-eight feet from the
ground Built entirely, except the
flooring, of wrought steel. it can neith-
er blow away, burn down nor float off,
and is as solid and secure as money and
experience can make it. 1t stands
back forty feet from the race course, on
a site wholly outside the enclosure Of
the old grounds, and the entire course
is visible from any portion of II, while
the upper tiers command a splendid
view of the city, the Island, and the
Ohio side. There are fifteen tiers of
seats, each 32S feet long, and each tier
is "a inches wide, as against 20 inches
on the old stand. ensuring plenty Of
room for spectators. In the centre will
be 800 folding seats, OF the most i'm
proved pattern, for those who desire
superior accommodations at a slight
additional expenditure of cash. The
stand is entered from the rear, by two
flights of wide and easy stairs, while
from the front, three wide flights Of
stairs admit spectators from the stand
10 the stretch between il and the track,
this enclosure being 32SX40 feet. The
judges stand viii be on the west side
of the track, directly in front Of the
centre Of the stand, while the reporters
will be provided for in suitable box