Los Angeles County Fair Improvements – Pomona CA

Description

The Los Angeles County Fair was first held in 1922. New Deal agencies extensively improved the grounds in the 1930s.

“The Improvements at the Los Angeles County Fair Grounds, W.P. No. 243, W.P. 4456, W.P. 5546, W.P. 9264, W.P. 9562 and W.P. 9740 were sponsored by the County of Los Angeles, for the construction of exhibition, recreation and service facilities and the landscaping of the grounds.

The Los Angeles County Fair located in Pomona, California, the heart of the citrus belt, is one of the largest and most popular county fairs in the United States, attracting exhibitors from all over the country.

Five projects, each a part of a comprehensive plan for the improvement of the Fair Grounds, have been completed and a sixth is now in operation. The aggregate expenditures to date on these projects amount to $703,965, $404,558 of which was derived from Federal funds.

Four reinforced concrete exhibit buildings, each containing 35,000 square feet of floor space, have been completed and a fifth, containing 23,500 square feet is now under construction. Eleven livestock exhibiting barns containing a total of 52,500 square feet of floor area have been built. In addition to the building construction, 60 acres of parking area and drives have been graded and surfaced; storm drains, gas sewer and water mains have been installed together with a complete underground electrical system to replace the unsightly overhead power lines. The landscaping involved the construction of lagoons, rustic foot bridges, rock walls, planting of trees and shrubs and the installing of the necessary sprinkling and and irrigating systems.”   (Connolly and Farman)

“The Millard Sheets Center for the Arts began as the Fine Arts Program of the Los Angeles County Fair – art exhibitions have been an integral part of the Fair since its founding in 1922… The Fine Arts building, a 12,000 square foot gallery built in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration to house the program, was dedicated the Millard Sheets Gallery in 1994 to honor Pomona, California artist and teacher Millard Sheets (1907-1989), the Program’s director from 1930 to 1956.”   (blogs.fairplex.com)