Williamson County broke ground on the Expo Center West Arena at 5350 Bill Pickett Trail in Taylor on Monday, Dec. 2, according to a news release.
“East Williamson County is growing, the need for facilities is growing, and the opportunity to include a structure like this to our Expo Center is really important,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said in the release. “It also serves a second purpose in that while parts of east Williamson County are transforming, there are parts of it that are still near and dear to our hearts, and that is agriculture and livestock and a lot of things the Williamson County Expo Center supports.”
The facility, funded through the 2023 WilCo Parks Bond, will “feature a new 175-foot by 450-foot covered arena with showers and restrooms, two 28-foot by 28-foot covered picnic pavilions and an engineered gravel parking area expansion,” according to the release.
The West Arena will allow existing events to grow in both size and scope, with the restrooms and showers supporting the RV park, the pavilions serving groups for social activities and the parking area expansion supporting Expo Center events, especially during wet conditions.
“It will give those folks in those industries, our farmers and our ranchers, a chance to meet, to learn, to have competition and get better at what they do,” Boles continued, according to the release. “It’s a great way to encourage their kids, and the youth of the county to grow up appreciating those things too.” The architect and engineer for the project will be Parkhill, and the construction contractor will be Bartlett Cocke General Contractors.
The project is expected to cost $10.7 million and will take approximately 12 months to complete, according to the release.
“I want to thank the citizens of Williamson County for supporting projects like this,” Boles said in the release. “I see this as us investing into ourselves, and our future and our history.”
