'Miracle on Manchester': DuPage fair to open Wednesday

DuPage County Fair organizers say they've pulled off a "Miracle on Manchester" as they prepare to open their five-day run on Wednesday.

"There have been times when I've wondered if it's ever going to get there," says Jim McGuire, the man in charge of the fair - and the miracle.

Along with his full-time staff of four and many volunteers, McGuire has been scrambling for months to pull the Wheaton fairgrounds together for this week's opening. Now they're prepping for the arrival of hundreds of farm animals, thousands of visitors and the added scrutiny that's sure to come with this year's event on 42 acres off Manchester Road.

In late December, six months before the scheduled start of the 61st annual fair, Wheaton building inspectors slapped more than 600 code violations on the fairgrounds.

The county sought the inspection after a task force studying the future of the property toured the decades-old buildings and flagged potential problems, county board member Jim Healy said. The county's lease with the nonprofit group that runs the fair is up in 2020.

The vast majority of the violations spread across almost 30 structures were minor, but 51 were considered serious enough to prevent building occupancy or use of equipment, said Joe Kreidl, Wheaton's director of building and code enforcement.

"There were maintenance things that needed to be taken care of and pushed into place," said McGuire, manager of the DuPage County Fair Association. "But we pride ourselves in a safe experience, a safe family experience. The sky was never falling at the fairgrounds."

Last week, Kreidl cleared the site of the last remaining hazardous infractions and gave the OK for visitors to occupy the buildings when the fair opens.

Several of those cases were fixed by moving a stockpile of utility poles and a mixture of soil and gravel away from public areas, Kreidl said. Structural poles that had deteriorated in the barns also were replaced.

"I know that the fair association has gone out of its way to paint and scrape and plant flowers in addition to what the city of Wheaton requested," Healy said. "The fairgrounds look better than it has in years."

Still, organizers won't be able to use grandstand seating for the rodeo and demolition derby Saturday and Sunday, respectively. They also scrapped motocross, held in recent years, partly because of the event's cost and the temporary bleachers that will now eat into the infield.

The grandstands have been deemed structurally safe by engineers, so spectators can still use the restrooms. But the seats are gated shut.

That's because Wheaton inspectors cited problems with spalling concrete: As moisture gets in the concrete and freezes, the surface cracks and breaks. The guardrails also need repairs. About 50 open violations stem from the grandstands, Kreidl said.

The fair association hasn't decided whether to sink money into the structure. McGuire said he's seen quotes of $80,000 to $100,000 to make the necessary fixes, including sealing the structure to protect it from the freeze-thaw damage.

While the grandstands are only on one side, temporary bleachers - from the show ring and on loan from Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park - will be arranged in a "U" shape. The layout offers roughly the same amount of seats: 3,000, McGuire said.

"We may find out this is a much nicer and intimate way to put on the show," he said.

Business vendors, meanwhile, will move into buildings No. 2 and 3, now air-conditioned and repainted.

The expo center's stage, empty in the past, is now an entertainment venue. New doors, paint and air conditioning are designed to encourage visitors to spend some time browsing the home economics displays, instead of cutting through the building (previously used for business vendors) to the rest of the grounds.

"It's been a huge amount of work, and it has been a huge amount of commitment," McGuire said.

In September, the county will revisit what to do with the site and what a county fair in a suburban setting should look like, Healy said.

McGuire firmly believes the fair should remain where it is. After 14 years as a volunteer, he was made the full-time manager to oversee the improvements, so far costing about $100,000 to $150,000.

"It will be nice just to know that we did it again. We had another fair," he said. "And I do hope that we get a good response."

If you go

What: DuPage County Fair

When: Wednesday through Sunday, July 22-26

Where: 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton

Hours: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

Admission: $10 adults, $4 ages 3 to 12, free for younger children and military personnel with ID

Info: (630) 668-6636 or dupagecountyfair.org.