The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency is opening a new permanent structure at the Warren County A&L Fair this Monday to showcase exhibits on the ground floor and hold hunting and boating classes in the basement throughout the year.
“We still have a few things to finish up on both the outside and inside of the building,” said TWRA officer Jason Ramsey. “Some of the work will be completed after the fair, but the majority of it will be ready by Monday for the grand opening. We wanted to modernize the building and make it more up to date, as well as fix the flooding issue which used to occur in the older structure.”
Construction of the building has taken two years to complete. With ramps providing handicap accessibility to the TWRA building and freshly painted walls and wooden floors, the brand new structure is arguably this year’s most anticipated addition to the fair.
“We are really looking forward to the opening of the new TWRA building,” said fair president Kenneth Medlen. “It is one of the most exciting attractions to come to the fair.”
Live exhibits will include nonpoisonous snakes from around the region, such as garter snakes, water snakes and corn snakes. The snakes are provided by Tennessee Tech University. This year’s booth will not have a critter feature, but the concept is expected to be added again at a later date.
“In the old fair booth, we used to have a critter feature each year. We had a different live animal to put on display,” said Ramsey. “At some point, we might incorporate that back into the booth, but this year the only live animals will be the snakes and fish.”
Two large aquariums will house a wide variety of species of fish with one of the aquariums being located in the window to allow viewers to see the fish when the booth isn’t open. Replications of the largest recorded small-mouth and large-mouth bass caught in the area hang on the wall, listing the facts and statistics regarding the fish.
Two black bears, a raccoon, turkey, wild hog, beaver, otter and a mounted deer head are a few of the taxidermy animals available for public viewing.
Posters, diagrams and pamphlets are displayed throughout the room providing a plethora of information and data involving the animals, wildlife and outdoor activities within Middle Tennessee. Boat and hunting exhibits will be located inside of the building for visitors to observe, as well as flyers and guides with information on upcoming classes.
“The new building allows the TWRA to have a permanent location to hold the different classes we offer throughout the year instead of having to search for available locations for each class,” says Ramsey. “No classes will be happening during the week of the fair.”
The first class to be held in the basement classroom of the TWRA fair booth will be a hunting education class on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18-19. Those who attend both days of classes and pass the specific tests can either receive a hunter education certificate and wallet card for hunting or a sticker to put on a boating permit to serve as a boating education license until the official card arrives.
The TWRA fair booth is located behind the grandstands and next to the main restrooms.
