Finding a Bigger Meeting Place 

Attendees checked out a dairy barn

If you've been by the State Fairgrounds in the last few years, you've seen the large barn south of the main entrance on 38th Street. The facility is actually the home of the Center for Agricultural Science & Heritage, and it houses a large meeting hall on the upper floor - the former haymow. 

We met there in May to test the barn out as a potential new meeting site. Home Craftsmen Forum is rapidly outgrowing the room we've been using in Speedway and the board has been looking for an alternative for some time. Most members who completed a survey agreed that this would be a good choice. While the hall has a rustic appearance, with yellow pine flooring and knotty pine walls, up-to-date air, lighting and sound systems made it very comfortable. The Center can  readily configure it for meetings, exhibitions, or banquets. For the older folks and heavy equipment, elevators bypass the flight of stairs to the second level. The amount of open space is impressive. There's plenty of room for home crafters to leave their seats to gather around a demonstration. 

We currently pay $45 for the room at Environmental Management.  The Center for Agricultural Science & Heritage asks $75 for a space twice the size, with an audio system included. (The club has been considering the purchase of a public address system and has found the cost to be in the $700 - $1,000 range.)