McKenzie County Approves Ag Expo Expansion
MCF Newsroom Reports
McKenzie County officials are moving ahead with a major expansion of the county’s Ag Expo Center, citing strong demand and rapid growth since the facility opened in June 2023.
At its March 17 meeting, the McKenzie County Commission voted to proceed with Phase Two construction, a roughly $25 million project that Expo Director Chris Kubal says will address capacity limits and create new opportunities for events.
Kubal said the existing indoor arena is already booked to capacity for much of the year, leaving little room for public use or additional events.
“We just don’t have enough days in the week,” Kubal said in an interview with WDEA. “We’re full. Parking lots are full. Bleachers are full.”
The expansion will add a second 200-by-300-foot arena, matching the size of the current building, designed primarily as a support and overflow space. Kubal said the new structure will serve multiple roles, including a warm-up arena, livestock holding area and staging space for large events such as motocross races, rodeos and potential indoor motorsports competitions.
“It’s really going to accent what we already have,” he said.
Construction is expected to begin in May and be completed within a year, with the facility ready for use ahead of the county fair in 2027. Kubal described the building as a functional, no-frills steel structure with concrete flooring, additional restrooms and limited seating.
The expansion comes as the Expo Center continues to see heavy usage. In 2025, the facility hosted 220 events across 249 days, according to Kubal’s January presentation to the commission. Only two weekends during the year had no scheduled activity.
Attendance has also climbed steadily, with nearly 60,000 visitors recorded in 2025. About 46% of those attendees came from outside McKenzie County, reinforcing the venue’s role as a regional destination. The county fair has seen particularly dramatic growth, drawing more than 15,000 attendees last year compared to about 6,000 prior to the Expo Center’s construction.
Kubal said the expansion will allow the facility to accommodate larger events and reduce the need to turn people away. Demand is already extending years into the future, with bookings filling 2026 and well into 2028.
“We’re already booking events that haven’t even got a building yet,” Kubal said.
Commissioners said the numbers validate the county’s original investment and support moving forward with Phase Two, noting both community use and economic impact. Kubal said the project reflects a broader trend of growth in the area.
“This is one of those ‘build it and they will come’ stories,” he said. “Now it’s, what do we do next?”
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