Complaints aired over ‘unbearable’ stereo competition at fairgrounds in Warsaw

Image of the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds taken from Google maps.
By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW – Noise complaints once again surfaced from entertainment at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds last weekend.

On Saturday, the fairgrounds hosted a large car show while also hosting an equestrian event and a Juneteenth celebration.

According to a spokesperson for the fairgrounds, the car show included a hi-fi car stereo contest. That normally would have been on the east side of the fairgrounds, but because of the equestrian events, it was moved to the west side and closer to the lake.

The stereo contest, in part, involved how loud the stereos could amplify. 

Police and the mayor soon started getting complaints. 

Mayor Joe Thallemer visited the neighborhood Saturday and said the music was so loud that a screen door on one house was visibly rattling.

He then went to the fairgrounds to find out what was happening and voiced his displeasure over the circumstances.

The noise level, he said, was unbearable and unacceptable.

On Monday night, a resident of the neighborhood attended the city council meeting and thanked Thallemer for intervening.

Noise complaints have been a historical sore point with neighbors for decades with the fairgrounds and led to two court actions involving racing at the fairgrounds.

Motorized racing was eventually banned by a court order decades ago and reinforced with a court ruling several years ago after the fair board ignored the ruling.