New Lake Co. fairgrounds hosts first event
As crews scrambled Tuesday to pave the parking lot and tend to other details at the new Lake County Fairgrounds, Donna Hansen of Step by Step Promotions was fidgeting.
Her well-known arts and crafts show this weekend will be the first public use of the events center at Peterson Road, west of Route 45, that finally is ready after years of planning, negotiation and anticipation.
She's afraid those on her mailing list will overlook the note on the announcement concerning the new location and unwittingly show up at the old, deserted fairgrounds at routes 120 and 45 in Grayslake.
"We have about 225 booths. This is one of the favorite shows out there. That's why it makes me so nervous," Hansen said.
The former fairgrounds site had been a fixture near Lake County's geographic center for more than 50 years. But as the buildings sagged and the facilities became outdated, directors of the Lake County Fair Association determined it would be better to start fresh.
After some false starts, a deal was struck in which the old fairgrounds was sold to a shopping center developer in return for the 160-acre Titus Farm about four miles south on Peterson and $12.5 million in cash.
A ceremonial groundbreaking was held last December. Since then, the 80,000-square-foot events building has risen steadily in a farm field as the centerpiece of the fair's new home.
Whether it would be fast enough to accommodate new users has been a continuing unknown, however.
"We've had our fingers crossed with the weather and everything else," said Dave DeYoung, fair association president. "We still do."
Hansen's company, based in Elk Grove Village, has been booking arts and crafts at the fairgrounds about three times a year for the last nine years. Instead of navigating between three buildings, customers this weekend will be under one roof.
The environment will be better but there is still uncertainty. Hansen was in the new building Tuesday, taking measurements to make sure everything will fit.
Do the table legs have protection on the bottom so as not to damage the floor?
"If we have to, we'll (use) duct tape," said Kathleen Van Dien, senior coordinator of events and concessions for the fair.
Crews expect to have enough of the 1,286-car parking lot paved by 9 a.m. Saturday to accommodate the crowd. For the balance of October, the fair will host offerings familiar to patrons of the old fairgrounds, including an antique market, a reptile show and a nationally known alpaca show.
Several more buildings will be constructed before the annual fair next summer, and the fair is looking for other attractions.
"We're working on a bunch of things," DeYoung said. "I don't think there will be anything new before January or February."