POCATELLO — Bannock County plans to add 70 additional full-service campsites to the RV park based at the local fairgrounds as part of a forthcoming overhaul of the facility.

The county received a $750,000 grant from the Idaho Department of Recreation toward the project and will be required to make a $230,000 match.

County leaders anticipate the improvements will help the facility draw new community events.

The county’s executive assistant, Tiffany Olsen, who completed the grant application, said the project will also encompass improved electrical infrastructure, with more available amps for campers and sewer hookups for every site.

”We have some deficiencies up there, one of which is power,” Olsen said, adding the county currently relies on extra generators and lots of extension cords to provide power in its overflow camping area during large events.

A new shower house and bathroom, designed to be accessible for people with disabilities, will be built, and the four adjacent campsites will also be designed to meet accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A second RV dump station will also be added.

Furthermore, 46 of the 70 new sites will be designed to allow campers to pull through, which is especially important to campers hauling horse trailers, which can have a tough time backing out of sites.

The county intends to submit the project for construction bids in July. The project should break ground in August, shortly after a construction bid is awarded, Olsen said. The goal is to have the improvements completed by May 1, 2020.

The park currently has 124 spaces. After the improvements are made, Olsen said the RV camping fee will increase from $25 to $45 per night. She said designs call for xeriscaped landscaping, which requires little watering.

Olsen believes the additions will make the fairgrounds more appealing to events that may be interesting in relocating to Pocatello, including new rodeo and equestrian events. She said the Intermountain Professional Rodeo Association wrote a letter in support of the grant, predicting the upgrades would lead to new events coming to the RV park, which is part of the Bannock County Fairgrounds and Event Center.

The organization wrote, “With the increased usage of horse trailers that include living quarters, our current RV park is quickly becoming inadequate and is in need of expansion.”

Bannock County Commissioner Steve Brown said the improvements will also make the facility more attractive to existing events and customers. Brown noted the county recently reached an agreement to keep the Idaho High School Rodeo Finals in Pocatello for another three years.

“Any time you modernize a complex, you expand the opportunity,” Brown said.

Brown said additional RV sites with amenities are needed in the area, and the facility fills a unique niche for equestrian events.

“We are at capacity, and that’s why the state of Idaho is interested in awarding this grant because there is not a resource like this on this side of the state,” Brown said.

When she presented the project for consideration by the county’s Planning and Development Council on March 20, Olsen said some of the volunteer board members voiced concerns about the potential for the facility to compete with private-sector campgrounds. Managers with other local RV parks say extra competition shouldn’t pose a problem, as there’s plenty of demand.

“I have no problem with it. We don’t have enough campgrounds in this town,” said Rose Vieau, manager of Pocatello KOA at 9815 W. Pocatello Creek Road. “We get over-swamped and have to turn people away.”

Vieau there’s been a trend of people staying in RVs more often while traveling, rather than hotels, and the community needs more RV capacity to accommodate its growth in public events.

“We’re already solidly booked for May, June and July,” Vieau said.

Melanie Marowitz, manager of Cowboy RV and Mobile Home Park at 845 Barton Road, said her facility has several long-term RV spots and 18 short-term sites, which fill up quickly during the summer.

“I don’t think we’ll lose business to anything,” Marowitz said. “More and more people find us and keep coming back.”