LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Laurel County Fairgrounds in London is celebrating a major milestone with a $5 million rebuild that includes a new pavilion and plans for a future event center.
The newly rebuilt fairgrounds features a 45,000-square-foot open-air pavilion that will host rodeos, horse shows and tractor pulls.
Christina Sowders, Wilderness Road Event Center director, said the transformation delivers on a promise made last September.
"This is really going to be one of the best fairgrounds in the entire state," she said.
Sowders said the results speak for themselves, with the rebuild described as only the beginning for the center.
Construction on a new building is set to begin next fall, replacing five buildings destroyed in the EF-4 tornado in May 2025. Funded in large part by $3 million from the Kentucky Legislature, the project will add a 15,000-square-foot event center to the property.
"That'll just give us added opportunities to bring more events," Sowder said.
Sowders said the completed project will serve the broader region.
"That's when this property will really become something for the whole region to use," she said.
Construction on a motorsports track at the fairgrounds begins in June. The five-day Laurel County Fair begins July 21.
