Success by Design

Designed by Hood Rich Inc., Architects and Engineers

Completed in July 1997, this project, owned by the Greene County Agricultural and Mechanical Society of Springfield, comprised two 35,000-square-foot clear-span exhibit buildings, Ozark Empire Fair administrative offices and an 8,000-seat grandstand. The buildings were designed to accommodate a wide variety of exhibit activities such as Ozark Empire Fair exhibits, lawn and garden shows and automotive exhibits.

Challenges included the Ozark Empire Fair board's request that the buildings be an identifiable feature at the fair. Therefore, the two towers were constructed, identifying the E-plex from any location on the fairgrounds. Also, there was a time constraint to design and construct a project after the 1996 fair ended and before the 1997 fair opened. This allowed less than one year for construction, and through the diligent efforts of MECO Systems Inc., it was completed on time.