Town mourns lost gathering place

CAMBRIDGE, Idaho – For nearly 50 years, the Washington County Exhibit Hall in this north-central Idaho town has anchored the community with weddings, dances, receptions, fundraisers, rodeos, barbecues and county fairs.

On Feb. 3, the roof on the largest civic center between Weiser and McCall collapsed under a load of snow. The building was unoccupied and no one was injured, but now residents are wondering if it can be replaced.

“It’s a mess. It’s a devastating loss,” Justin Mink, vice chairman of the board of the Washington County Fair, told the Idaho Statesman. “It makes you sick to see when you drive by it every day.”

An insurance adjuster has written the building off as a total loss, and now residents are waiting for what a second adjuster decides, concerned the insurance settlement won’t be enough to replace the building.

Volunteers did much of the work on the first building. Don Dopf, current Commercial Club president, said a similar building would cost about $500,000.

“In this day and age, it’s unusual for volunteers to be able to do much around a construction site because of liability,” he said.

Mink said the fair will take place in August without the building if necessary.

“It will go on if we have to set up in city parks,” he said. “We’ll set up tents if we have to. It’s so hard to talk about. It’s such an impact when you go to plan something and (the hall) isn’t there.”

The hall was built after a fire swept through the fairgrounds in 1955, destroying most of the buildings. Area residents made donations and the hall was built in 1958, with events held on a sawdust floor while money was raised for a hardwood floor.

Following the 1959 county fair, residents began laying the new floor. The inaugural dance was held on Jan. 2, 1960.