Richard & Michele Misener
Challenge – Keeping hay bales dry
Solution – Hercules Truss Arch Building
Size – 73′ wide x 120′ long
Application – Hay storage building
Situated in north eastern Oregon, just miles from the Washington state line, Richard and Michele Misener have been living in Hermiston – a town of 17,000 – for 10 years. Ever since, they’ve been harvesting and baling grass hay on 18 irrigated acres of land and supplying it to local horse owners. Each year, the family would rely on a local company to provide large enough tarps to cover the hay supply before inclement weather ensued. At times, however, the hay bales would be at the mercy of rain and storms, compromising the nutritional integrity of the common livestock feed.
Misener started to research other sustainable storage options, and after learning about ClearSpan Fabric Structures in a catalog, she inquired about a Hercules Truss Arch Building. “The responsiveness of ClearSpan to my inquiry really made the decision to choose a fabric structure from ClearSpan very easy for me,” stated Misener. “We’ve found over the years that sometimes tarps wouldn’t be available for a period of time, which is why we were looking for an alternative solution to store our bales of hay.”
What’s more, Misener has been very pleased with the benefits yielded by the fabric structure. They’ve found that not only do they have more than enough space to stack their bales of hay, but they also use it as an indoor riding arena for their horses. “We’re able to ride and care for our horses in the building whenever we can,” mentioned Misener. “The natural light in the building has been pleasant and there’s no echoing, which doesn’t spook our horses.”
In the Pacific Northwest where inclement weather can be frequent, the nearly 9,000 square foot building has been a great addition for the Miseners. Overall, the spacious interior without support posts provides the maximum usable space inside their fabric building. The endless customizable options and available accessories for a ClearSpan building also allowed the Miseners to tailor the structure to their needs. “During the design process, we elected to add a ClearSpan™ Giant Bi-Fold Door to one of the end walls,” added Misener. “The Bi-Fold Door is a modern day marvel, as we are able to drive the hay wagon in, tilt the bed and stow the hay. It’s awesome!”
For more on the Miseners’ hay business and their ClearSpan building, email Michele at MicheleMisener@charter.net.
