(Radio Iowa) – Construction will start in a few weeks on an Agricultural Learning Center on the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City, only the second facility of its kind in the state. Gene Gourley, a fifth-generation farmer from Webster City, says the plans for this ag education center have long been in the works. Gourley says donations for the center are continuing to come in and the work will begin this spring — as soon as it’s warm enough — and it should be complete by July 1st for the fair.

Webster City F-F-A advisor Kurt Veldhuizen says the state-of-the-art facility will let students see an actual representation of true industry and animal science. The first classes at the center are scheduled for late August. This is the second such center in Iowa. Muscatine is the home to the first.