The first of the Union County Fairground’s new bathrooms have been installed
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, June 4th, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – Work on the Union County fairgrounds recently hit another major milestone. In what could be summarized as the most long-overdue bathroom renovation in Eastern Oregon history, the first of the Union County Fairground’s brand-new bathrooms are in place in the Mount Emily Building. While not functional just yet as plumbing work and installation continues across the entire grounds, the era of fairgrounds guests sweltering in porta potties every summer is finally coming to an end.
Alongside the interior bathrooms, other upgrades to the Mount Emily building include new plumbing, electrical and utility spaces, a new storage closet, and the expansion of the kitchen space, including a full commercial sink, by removing the original women’s bathroom. A modern drinking fountain has also been installed.
Across the fairgrounds, many of the trenches and ditches have been filled in as plumbing and electrical lines have been buried. Initial work is also well underway on new water & electrical hookups for vendor stalls, a standalone bathroom building near the main entrance, plumbing hookups to the caretaker and Courtright buildings, along with the main pump station near the side entrance. When completed, around 30 new bathroom stalls will be present on the grounds.
Near the back of the grounds, work is also continuing on the water and power hookups for the RV parking area, along with the RV shower facilities. The hope, according to Union County Commissioner Mat Scarfo, is that the new RV facilities will bring in additional funds to the county from camping rentals.
Other projects left to complete include new asphalt walkways for guests and new light poles. Of course, the final piece of the project remains the water and septic connection along the 2nd street bridge over I-84. The connection has already been built up to the overpass on the La Grande side, with the fairgrounds side expected to run parallel to I-84 before connecting to the bridge. When work begins on the final connection, crews will incrementally close lanes of I-84 one at a time to accommodate construction.
While an exact completion date hasn’t been set, crews and the county remain optimistic that the grounds will be mostly renovated in time for the 2026 county fair.
For those unfamiliar with the project. Union County had long been seeking state support to fund the construction of a new, modern, water and septic system that would connect the fairgrounds to the City of La Grande’s system. During the 2025 legislative session, House Bill 5006 and Senate Bill 5531 provided $2,539,405 in lottery bond funding toward the project, which will be fully allocated in 2027. Ground was officially broken on the project on November 14, 2025, with construction currently well underway.
