On Saturday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County's Agriculture Education Building at the first ever Fall Festival & 4-H Expo at the fairgrounds in Lockport. The building will be utilized for programs that promote agriculture education.
Funding for the building was received through Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Agriculture Fairgrounds Infrastructure Improvement Program.
New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Norris, 144th District, and Niagara County Legislator David Godfrey, 10th District, attended the event. Norris spoke during the ceremony and presented a citation from the New York State Assembly before cutting the ribbon.
Construction of the Agriculture Education Building was made possible through the $5 million fund Cuomo set aside in the 2016-17 budget for improving the infrastructure of all agricultural fairs across New York. The funding requires that projects be shovel-ready and relate to the housing or promotion of agriculture. The Agriculture Education Building will be devoted to agriculture educational programming, not just during the Niagara County Fair, but on a year-round basis.
"Our Agriculture Education Building is part of a shared vision we have for our grounds that not only will benefit community members year round, but also help boost agriculture education opportunities in our community," said Cathy Maloney, executive director at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County. "We look forward to using this new facility to expand programming to better serve Niagara County."
Cornell Cooperative Extension's first Fall Festival & 4-H Expo was a success, with fun kids' craft and educational activities, along with food, games, live music, wagon rides, 4-H animal demonstrations, vendors and 4-H informational meetings that educated the community on how to become a member of the Niagara County 4-H Program.
For more information about programming at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County, visit
www.cceniagaracounty.org or call 716-433-8839.
