Exhibition row, a 1939 building on the southwest side of the Dickinson County Fairgrounds, will be demolished under a plan the county board approved Monday. A pavilion built by volunteers will be placed on part of its footprint. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo, file)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County is accepting an offer from a retired building trades instructor to provide lumber and labor for a pavilion at the fairgrounds in Norway, replacing a 1939 building that some residents had hoped to save.

Tom Wender of Breitung Township told the county board Monday he agrees with Chairman Dan Harrington that the exhibition row structure is beyond repair, citing rot and mold.

“If there was any hope for this thing, I’d be on your side,” he said of those wanting to renovate the storefront-like building.

Wender’s proposal calls for a pavilion about 20 feet wide and 100- to 120-feet long to cover part of the area now occupied by exhibition row. The vote to accept Wender’s offer was unanimous.

The former Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District teacher said the fair board will be responsible for roofing materials and utilities. Although it will be an open building, Wender said he could assist if enclosures are desired.

Trusses for the structure will be cut and prepared at Wender’s sawmill, with help, he said, from “my crew,” ages 70 to 81.

Wender said he’d like to salvage a few things from exhibition row and repurpose them in the new structure, which will mainly be red pine and tamarack, along with spruce. The project, he added, will need both a site committee and a building committee, with targeted completion a year from now.

The only requested compensation is naming the building in honor of the Wender family, he said.

The fair board voted 7-3 in February to tear down exhibition row, and Harrington had acknowledged that county board consent would be needed as well.

Minutes from the June 2 meeting showed the Dickinson County Fair Board approved a $10,250 bid from Marcus Bubloni Excavating of Norway to tear down exhibition row in a 9-1 vote. The unapproved minutes state two “sealed quotes” were received, the other coming from Morin Excavating of Niagara, Wis., at $11,850.

During citizens’ time Monday, Elizabeth Stack of Norway questioned the fair board’s protocols in awarding the bid, which she said was not on the June 2 agenda. She also said demolition should wait until after this year’s Sept. 3-7 fair.

The county board, after discussion Monday, voted 4-1 “to raze the exhibition row/concession row building.” Commissioner Joe Stevens dissented.

Harrington explained the contractor will need to meet Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy regulations for asbestos and lead removal, which caused Stevens to question whether there’s adequate contract language.

Harrington said he’d be in favor of saving the building if it were practical, but “sometimes it’s time to move on.” He added he’d like to see the demolition done “as soon as possible.”

The building on the southwest side of the fairgrounds has housed canning, bakery and antiques during the fair. The Dickinson County Racing Association has made use of the section nearest to the grandstand. Historic features include an interior tin ceiling and archways.

Friends of the Dickinson County Fair, an independent non-profit group, in January presented a $20,000 contribution to the fair board with the intention of helping save exhibition row. Most of the funding came through a donation from the Dickinson County 100-Plus Women Who Care.

There was no discussion by the county board Monday on the status of that donation, which Harrington has said the fair board is willing to return.

Both Harrington and Commissioner Victoria Jakel serve as county board representatives on the 11-member fair board. Minutes show Harrington was excused from the June 2 meeting for work.

Jakel on Monday said she was uncertain how the demolition quotes were solicited. She noted, too, that vendors using exhibition row have made “numerous complaints” about the condition of the building.

Wender was the driving force in developing Pine Creek Woodworking, a nonprofit facility housed in the century-old former Pine Creek School in Breitung Township.

In other action, the county board:

— Set the 2026 county operating millage rate request at 6.112 mills, or $6.11 per $1,000 of taxable value. This is down slightly from the 6.1323 mills levied in 2025, due to a Headlee millage reduction fraction that state law requires to generally limit property tax growth to the rate of inflation.

— Adopted a budget calendar that includes a tentative public hearing date of Dec. 14.

— Approved a $1,500 allocation to the Hamilton Lakes Board for Eurasian watermilfoil treatment on Hamilton Lakes.

— Approved a $5,000 appropriation to the Almost Home Animal Shelter.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.