Nostalgia, hopes abound at county fair
Most years, the staff members responsible for thousands of details needed to make the annual Lake County Fair run smoothly barely have time to pause and enjoy the big events.
This year, the 53rd and last fair to be held at the fairgrounds at routes 45 and 120 in Grayslake, will be an exception. This will not be a big to-do, but a subtle gesture intended as a collective thank you for more than a half century of effort.
"There's no surprises. We're just going to put it to rest quietly," explained David DeYoung, president of the Lake County Fair Association. "We'll close the office here and let all the staff enjoy the concert."
Emerging country music stars Ashton Shepherd and Josh Gracin will take the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday. Aside from their entertainment value, Shepherd and Gracin were booked as an experiment of sorts as the fair association looks ahead to its new home about 4 miles south on Peterson Road for the 2009 event.
"We decided we wanted to do something for the people as a kickoff for next year but (also) as a finale for this year," DeYoung said. "We hope to be able to bring entertainment several nights at the new fairgrounds. This is kind of a test of how many people would come on the grounds to see these people entertain."
While the fair is anxious to move on, the village of Grayslake also has a huge stake in what happens next. An 807,000-square-foot shopping center, about two-thirds the size of Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills, is planned for the old fair site.
A 2010 opening is still the stated timetable but the economy may have an impact. No one expects bulldozers to overrun the site when the fair turns over the keys Aug. 31.
"If you're not under construction, the outlook for probably the next 12 or 18 months is it's going to be tough," said Jim Sakanich, senior vice president for retail services at CB Richard Ellis, a global real estate services company.
But the immediate focus is on the final fair, which begins Tuesday and runs through July 27.
DeYoung, who "grew up at the fairgrounds" showing beef cattle here as a kid, regards the 2008 fair with a mixture of nostalgia and excitement. Fair officials agonized for years before making a megadeal to sell the facilities, which were showing their age and would have been onerously expensive to modernize.
"We'll be interested in seeing the emotion, the sentiments coming out. This isn't something the board took real lightly," he said.
"It's going to be kind of an eventful thing being the last year here but the (fair) board and members and a lot of the people are excited about what we're doing with the new."
The centerpiece, which now can be seen by passers-by, is an 80,000-square-foot exhibits building. Plans also call for an amphitheater and stage, though fair officials say they are not about to turn into promoters, per se.
"They're a county fair, not a concert operation. The entertainment is to assist in the draw to the fair," said Rudy Magna, the association's attorney.
In a complicated exchange valued at $28.5 million, the fair association traded the 111-acre fairgrounds for the Titus Farm along Peterson Road and $12.5 million.
Despite the payday from the sale of its longtime home, the association still had to borrow to build the new facility. The original estimate of it being a $17 million building project was low and the final price likely will be closer to $20 million, Magna said.
"We're going to look for sponsorships and naming rights to recoup some of our expenses," DeYoung said. "It's for the people of the county. It's a showcase."
Part of the plan was to provide a modern facility that could provide more opportunity for uses throughout the year, not just during fair week. But whether it be horse shows or other events, those rentals serve the main business of hosting a fair.
Work at the new site has been going full-bore and the facility is expected to be open for business Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, developing the old fairgrounds is the village's top economic development priority because it would ease the reliance on residential property tax.
The shopping center would generate an estimated $3 million per year in property taxes for the village, local schools and other taxing bodies.
The village board already has approved the concept but SKW Capital Management LLC of Deerfield and partner Developers Diversified Realty Corp. still need to get approval of a final development plan, which would include the store locations and other details.
That has not been submitted and Developers Diversified refused to comment on any aspect of the project.
"They're still working on signing up tenants and those types of things," said Assistant Village Manager Matt Formica. "Everything seems to be moving forward very well."
Sakanich of CB Richard Ellis said lending requirements for shopping center developers have tightened. Having a center 50 percent leased worked in the past but the required commitment is now as high as 70 percent.
"I would say there are a lot of larger projects stalled," he said. "There are a lot of retailers sitting on the sidelines saying, 'We'll wait 12 or 18 months.'"