2 weeks Ago By Randy Petersen
ROCHESTER — Flexibility is being designed into Olmsted County’s new exhibition center in Graham Park for year-round use. Mat Miller, the county’s director of facilities and building operations, said the initial goal will be to plan weekend use 52 weeks a year, filling the rest of the week with other activities. ADVERTISEMENT “I would love to see it active seven days a week,” he told a crowd of 15 or so residents Thursday during a neighborhood information meeting before the county submits plans for city review.
He said county commissioners continue to discuss options for an operational model that will be used to book events and could determine the level of use the facility sees, During Thursday’s presentation, Jason Woodhouse of CRW Architecture and Design Group highlighted the site design that is expected to be submitted to Rochester’s Community Development Department for review and potential approval for construction to start. “We do plan to submit that relatively soon,” he said, pointing to a 30-day deadline that started with Thursday’s meeting. The $42.
6 million exhibition center project is slated to be built in the southern section of Graham Park, with the roughly 80,000-square-foot building sitting west of Graham Arenas. It is designed to seat 1,500 people in a roughly 125-foot by 250-foot performance arena when retractable seating is in place. The overall usable event space includes a 80-foot by 110-foot practice arena, which can be merged with the main area for a larger unified space, when needed.
Adding to the site’s flexibility, an outdoor activity pad and parking stretch west of the planned building, with the ability to use restrooms and planned concessions for indoor and outdoor events. ADVERTISEMENT The combined project will fill functions needed for the annual Olmsted County Fair, with livestock shows in the new building and grandstand shows on the activity pad, but Woodhouse said both spaces are designed for additional uses. The indoor and outdoor spaces will offer the ability to hold events needing a dirt surface or a concrete floor, with the ability to move dirt in and out when appropriate.
Miller said preliminary plans call for the exhibition center to typically feature a dirt floor from April to October, making the space available for the county fair and other livestock events, as well as rodeos, horse shows and anything else that requires a dirt floor, during seven months from spring to fall. In November, he said the dirt will be hauled out and stored in the park, opening the exhibition center for a variety of other uses during colder months, including trade shows, banquets and potential sports events. Miller said the potential exists to move the dirt in and out more often, but it would likely come at an additional cost for event organizers.
He said the same is likely true for some sports uses, since the space that could fit five soccer fields or five basketball courts would require special flooring and equipment. Added to the flexibility of the design, Woodhouse said the building features materials selected to meld with its surroundings, which include historic buildings alongside newer arenas. Using a mix of natural stone, brick, metal and glass as part of the exterior design, he said the goal is for the building to blend with the buildings around it, rather than attempt to mimic one design or bring in a completely new style.
ADVERTISEMENT With plans nearly ready for city review, Miller said the goal is to seek construction bids by early June, with the hope of starting work after the Olmsted County Fair wraps up on July 27. With an anticipated 17- to 18-month construction period, work is expected to be completed in early 2027, but Miller said the goal is to phase efforts to make sure the activity pad is available for the 2026 county fair’s grandstand shows..
