GREENFIELD — After decades of exhibiting on the second floor of the iconic Roundhouse at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, limited mobility in recent years prevented retired Roundhouse Superintendent Kathy Halberg from accessing the space.

“Before, I’d always hold onto the railing and be afraid something would happen,” she said, noting it had been a few years since she’d been to the second floor at all.

Thanks in part to a $5,500 Community Challenge grant from AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), the Franklin County Fairgrounds on Wisdom Way was able to install a chairlift on the side staircase in the Roundhouse.

“They let me take the inaugural ride,” said Halberg, who served as superintendent for 40 years. “It was something to see, it really was.”

The rest of the $17,000 project total came from the fairgrounds’ savings fund for capital projects.

“Even though it is financially one of our smaller projects … it’s definitely one of the biggest ones that’s going to impact people the most, particularly those with limited mobility,” said Mike Nelson, president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society, which manages the fairgrounds. “The Roundhouse generally has an older demographic and a lot of the people who exhibit in the Roundhouse have been doing so for decades. Much of that demographic is aging.”

Nelson said the accessibility project is the latest in the Franklin County Agricultural Society’s $1.3 million investment in the fairgrounds over the last two years.

“We’re very excited to be able to offer this. It’s really going to enhance the experience of the fair and the fairgrounds for those people that have been left out from that second floor,” he said. “This is just one part of our continued investment into the facility … so it continues to be a viable community gathering place for generations to come and that all generations can enjoy.”

Other projects in the pipeline for the fairgrounds include whitewashing the cattle barn and, eventually, building a more permanent community performance stage.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.