Case IH will say goodbye to temporary tents and hello to a permanent structure at the 2017 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, where the company will greet visitors throughout the three-day show. The new building, located at 7th and West, sets the stage for Case IH’s 175th anniversary celebration during the Farm Progress Show, says Marc Pomerantz, Case IH customer events manager.

The company began planning for the 5,800-square-foot Wick building two years ago, Pomerantz says. Case IH broke ground for the new building in October 2016, and the project was complete by late March 2017.

“We’re really excited to have a permanent structure,” he adds. “It was a home run from the start.”

At 66 by 88 feet, the partially air-conditioned offices and conference rooms are available for Case IH and its dealer partners to use throughout the year. The company held training events at the new space in late April, Pomerantz notes.

A porch, stage, sound system, video screen and merchandise store round out the building. “A permanent structure helps us maximize resources,” Pomerantz says. “We’re really excited about it.”

“It’s a beautiful addition to the show site,” says Matt Jungmann, national events manager for Penton Ag, adding that show staff held their first exhibitor meeting in the new building this past spring.

What else is new on the show grounds? Take a look down as you walk the site.

Road repairs
Twelve years of heavy truckloads down Farm Progress Show roads have left their mark — enough so that it was time to repair the roads. The original roads were installed in 2005, when the semipermanent site at Decatur was established. Those paved roads have made the site a better experience for visitors, in both good and bad weather. Farm Progress partnered with Richland Community College, Macon County and community members to make significant road repairs on the exhibit field this year, Jungmann notes.

“We’re doing an extensive road rebuild to make sure it’s a good-quality site for everybody,” he adds. “We don’t want it to break apart right before the show, so we do it now to get ahead of it.”

How extensive is the rebuild project? “We’re stabilizing 9,097 feet of cement road, placing 1,560 tons of asphalt and 808 square yards of asphalt patches,” explains Clay Gerhard, Richland College. “We’re routing and sealing 22,500 feet of pavement cracks and adjusting 16 manholes to improve drainage.”

The road improvements follow the 2015 site expansion, which included three new streets on the southwest side of the site. Farm Progress has also recently announced a $7 million infrastructure investment in the Husker Harvest Days site at Grand Island, Neb., a sister show to the Farm Progress Show.

The resurfaced FPS roads will be ready for the 2017 show, which runs Aug. 29-31 in Decatur from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.