Officials focusing on code violations at DuPage fairgrounds

Before DuPage County Board members can decide whether the county fair should continue operating at its current location beyond 2020, they first want to know if there will be a fair this July.

On Tuesday, members of the county board's public works/facilities committee were expected to talk about whether DuPage should continue leasing the county-owned fairgrounds in Wheaton to the DuPage County Fair Association, the nonprofit group that plans and runs the five-day county fair.

Instead, the discussion focused on how the fair association is working to correct hundreds of code violations inside multiple structures at the fairgrounds.

“The first question we have to answer is whether the property can be brought into compliance,” said James Healy, chairman of the public works/facilities committee.

“If they can't bring the property into code compliance,” he said, “you cannot have a fair this year.”

The city of Wheaton last month ordered officials to close most of the structures on the 42-acre site along Manchester Road after building inspectors discovered the more than 600 violations.

City officials have said that many of the violations were minor. Fifty-one of the violations, however, were deemed of “high importance” by the city.

The fair association has been working with Wheaton officials to resolve all the issues. Almost all the main buildings have been reopened.

“Of the 51 life-safety code violations, they brought 40 of them already into code compliance,” Healy said.

Wheaton building inspectors found the violations in September during an inspection requested by DuPage. The county sought the inspection because a task force of business officials and industry experts was exploring whether the county should continue leasing the fairgrounds to the fair association beyond 2020, which is when the existing deal is set to expire.

As part of its report, the task force estimates it would cost “in excess of $2 million” to make all the needed improvements to the buildings on the fairgrounds site.

On Tuesday, fair association Treasurer Jim McGuire strongly disagreed with the task force's estimate.

“I don't agree that there's $2 million of remediation needed,” McGuire said.

Healy said one way the fair association will be able to reduce the total cost of repairs is by demolishing several buildings, including some used to sell tickets and concessions.

“They're just not going to keep them, because there's almost no way to bring them into code compliance,” Healy said.

One building that has remained closed is the grandstand, which the fair uses for its rodeo and demolition derby. Inspectors found some major problems with the structure, including deteriorated handrails, unsecured guard rails and a section of the bleachers in disrepair.

“The grandstand shouldn't be used,” Healy said. “I don't think there is any way to bring that into compliance within a reasonable cost.”

Even if the fair association greatly reduces the total bill, it still will need to raise some money for repairs.

On Tuesday, Healy stressed the county has no money to help pay for the repairs.

“We have no intention of spending any money on this,” he said.

Money for repairs also may not be available from the agency created to collect annual payments from the state to help fund the fair.

Michael Formento, chairman of the DuPage Fair and Exposition Authority, said the agency last year received about $204,000 from the Illinois Department of Agriculture. But that amount is significantly less than the nearly $300,000 it received in 2010.

Meanwhile, the exposition authority only has about $240,000 left in its reserve fund, according to Formento.

“I don't believe that it is appropriate that we use our $240,000 for additional maintenance and upkeep on a facility that may no longer exist in a year,” he said.

Formento said that money would be best used trying to find a new location for certain elements of the fair so “the agricultural interests of the community” could continue.

“I don't think the fair has a choice due to the repairs that are necessary,” Formento said.