Lake County Fair plants new roots
Half a century ago, the Titus Farm on Peterson Road was the last stop on the milk route.
Every day, a young Bill Obenauf picked up 34 8-gallon cans of fresh milk from the Titus brothers' farm, one of several on his Libertyville Township route, to deliver to the Meadow Gold Dairy in Waukegan.
"Way back then, they had a lot of dairy," Obenauf recalled Tuesday. The memories rekindled as Obenauf joined fellow members of the Lake County Fair Association board at the old farm to break ground on a new era.
"This is a monumental thing that's happening for Lake County, the fair, the kids … this is the start of a new era for the Lake County Fair Association right here, today," said Dave DeYoung, board president.
Ceremonial shovels were used to dig up a few chunks of earth. But as a light snow began to fall, the presence of more than a dozen large earth-moving machines guaranteed the landscape was going to change.
The 160-acre Titus Farm, which had been in that family for more than a century, was sold last summer. The Fair Association received it and $12.5 million from a retail developer in exchange for its longtime home at routes 45 and 120 in Grayslake.
Studies had shown the deteriorating buildings at the old fairgrounds would be too expensive to replace. The board decided to start fresh.
Grading should be done within a week, weather permitting, and then work will begin on the events center, the largest of several buildings to be built. The style of architecture was described as country with a rural design.
If everything goes perfectly, the 2008 fair, scheduled for July 22-27, will be held at the new site. But that's not expected, and the association made provisions to use its longtime spot for one more year if necessary.
"We're optimistic, but we have a backup," said Pete Tekampe, treasurer of the fair association board.
While its new home will allow for more and bigger events, the fair board has vowed to stay close to its agricultural roots at the new facility. Small plots of corn, oats and soybeans could be part of the landscape.
"Just little patches so people can see what it looks like," Obenauf said.