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Partly cloudy. High 94F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Generally clear skies. Low 71F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

What had been an empty parking lot at 920 S. Sheridan Road for the past three months now has vehicles parked out front. Comanche County Fairgrounds staff returned to work Monday and notified their clientele by email they’re ready to do business.

What had been an empty parking lot at 920 S. Sheridan Road for the past three months now has vehicles parked out front. Comanche County Fairgrounds staff returned to work Monday and notified their clientele by email they’re ready to do business.

The Comanche County Fairgrounds staff quietly returned to work June 8 after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The list of might-have-beens during that downtime goes on and on: Lawton Public Schools’ graduations, Eats & Beats (food truck festivals with live music), Cops ‘n’ Kids, the Armed Services YMCA’s Red River Craft Beer Festival, Comanche Little Ponies’ Powwow, 2 Hip Chicks Roadshow (new clothing sale), the Home and Garden Show, 580 Roller Girls and Just Between Friends (a used children’s clothing consignment sale). Catered civic club luncheons also went by the wayside.

The second week of May, you could call (580) 357-1483 and hear a recorded message saying that the office would tentatively reopen May 18. Pool said members of the Comanche County Fairgrounds Trust Authority didn’t feel that was a safe time to open up, and so they waited to see what would be the result of the City of Lawton’s decision to open things back up.

Meanwhile, Comanche County Health Department nurses used the fairgrounds’ Expo Building on an emergency basis to conduct drive-through COVID-19 testing for almost three weeks. The nurses were also tracing the close contacts of those who tested positive for the disease and called to notify them that they should come in for testing.

Three weeks went by before fairgrounds trustees felt it was safe to proceed. Pool, Office Manager Joe Kirk and fairgrounds employee Lindsay Maloney spent their first two days back getting things back in order and notifying their clientele that the fairgrounds is open for business.

On Wednesday, Pool was ready to talk about the effect of COVID-19 on fairgrounds operations and how the staff will rise to meet the challenge of hosting community events.

“We haven’t made a dime since mid-March,” Fairgrounds Executive Director Richard Pool flatly admitted.

“If I look back at last year’s numbers and the amount of events that canceled because of COVID, we lost $398,000 in three months,” he said.

That’s not a bad thing, given the threat posed by the novel coronavirus and the worldwide toll it has taken.

“My main concern is the safety of our staff and the people we serve,” Pool declared.

Despite all the cancellations and loss of revenue, the director and the fair board didn’t have to take any drastic steps to remain solvent.

“Luckily enough, we had the county budget that helps us, plus our expenses were cut ‘way back from being closed,” Pool said. In addition, the fairgrounds continued to receive a monthly check for its share of hotel-motel tax monies.

Nevertheless, “it’s been rough on the employees. It’s been rough on everybody,” he said, noting that the staff is a tight-knit group that missed seeing each other.

“Now that we’re reopening, we’ve had to take some serious steps in our concessions. The days of self-serve buffets are over. I don’t believe you’ll see those for a long time, until they find some type of vaccine in order to combat this. All our caterings will be plated. It’s just the way it is right now.

“All our staff has or will be trained in COVID education. Any time we’re around the public we’ll have masks on, gloves on,” Pool said.

It hasn’t arrived yet, but the fairgrounds director has already invested a pretty penny on a new weapon in the fairgrounds’ arsenal against COVID-19 and other health threats. It’s a mister he found on Amazon.com, and it will be used to disinfect facilities before and after they’re used by the public.

Spartan Chemical BNC-15 sanitizing solution is what will be mixed with water to create an ultra-light vapor dispersed by the portable fogger/sprayer backpack machine.

“It’s similar to a fog machine, but it’s used to disinfect and sanitize. So any time we have an event, say in the Prairie Building, after the event leaves, after everybody’s out, we go in there with a respirator and the fogger, and it kills all the bacteria, mold, mildew and germs to include COVID, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), all that.

“It wasn’t cheap, but I just felt that we needed to not only protect our employees but protect the public. It’s just safety precautions that we’ve taken as a facility to make sure that everything’s fine. We’ll fog bathrooms, kitchens, anything that’s being used,” Pool said.

The fairgrounds has also invested in digital thermometers like those used in medical facilities, fitness centers and the county courthouse to make sure no one entering the building is running a fever. Once the thermometers come in, the staff will be doing checks at the door. If an employee seems to be sick, he or she will be sent to be tested. Also, if they show any symptoms they will go into a 14-day quarantine.

“We are going to have quite a bit of signage up stating that if you have a fever or a cough or feel poorly or have congestion, please don’t enter the facility,” the fairgrounds director said. The signs will also remind customers to observe social distancing.

Hand sanitizers are going up for people to use as they enter or leave. At the concession stands you’ll see Plexiglas sneeze guards to intercept airborne virus. If spectator sports like basketball resume, you’ll likely see alternating rows of occupied and vacant bleachers.

The remodeled Coliseum Annex is available for rent, and one party has already booked it.

Pool said the Western Swing Music Society of Southwest Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame show is canceled for this year, because the age of the participants puts them at risk.

Some events that are scheduled as of right now include:

• June 15: Lawton’s Noon Lions Club will resume its luncheon meetings. To maintain social distancing, only four people will be seated at the round tables that formerly seated six.

• June 25: The Kiwanis Club will resume its luncheon meetings.

• July 20-25: The Grand National Horsemen’s Association’s Playday Finals.

• July 25: Rage in the Cage, an Ultimate Fighting Challenge-type match that was postponed from April.

• August: The Mountain Metro AMBUCS Trykes N Tread Car Show.

• September: The Care2Cure Car Show will be reduced from two days to one this year. United States Auto Club’s Sound Competition is still on.

• October: Oktoberfest, the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association’s Horn Showcase and the pig sale are all still planned.