“Our plan has always been, and we’ve always stated, to have a development that will be cohesive and symbiotic with the fairgrounds and the Champions Center, and the key to that is a hotel,” said Ethan Harris, Clark County community and economic development director. “That is the part that will be most beneficial at having an event at the fairgrounds. We’ve always said a hotel is number one to the development.”
The fairgrounds and the Champions Center, according to Dean Blair, executive director of the Clark County Fairgrounds, see about half a million visitors a year.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Commissioners own the fairgrounds property, located off Interstate 70. They donated a piece of land to the Clark County Land Bank and purchased the former armory site in 2019 for $125,000 to redevelop the area. The land bank owns the 4.33 acres of the former armory site and the 9.805 acres of the frontage of the fairgrounds.
Harris said the property will be sold to a developer at a price yet to be determined.
“It’s my understanding that the land bank and county economic officials are looking for a new deal with a new developer ... that might choose to buy any of the out-lots,” Blair said.
The agreement with the previous developer, Dillin LLC, expired in August 2023, and officials are now talking with multiple potential new developers.
“Our agreement with Dillin expired, and at this stage any developer that might have a plan or an offer to purchase the property, we are happy to have conversations with,” Harris said. He declined comment about the Dillin agreement’s expiration with nothing done at the site.
Harris said the redevelopment plan essentially is still the same, but “nothing is set in stone at this stage.”
“We are still looking for a hotel. A hotel is key,” he said. “We definitely want a restaurant to accompany a hotel, but until a hotel is locked down, it’s hard to say what else will come.”
Any hotel can be developed, Harris said.
“(It will be) left up to the developer and hotel, once the plan is finalized. It’s hard to say because I don’t know exactly what users will be going in there and each will have their own site requirements for their parcel,” he said.
The old office space at the fairgrounds was recently torn down a year after it was replaced with a nearly $1 million new office building.
“It’s supposed to be a part of (the) bigger development,” Blair said.
The 1,750-square-foot old building, which was located along South Charleston Pike and to the right of the main gates, had small conference rooms, no private offices and an outdated design.
County commissioners used $945,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for construction of the new office building.
The new 2,890-square-foot office, which was completed in June 2023, is just 300 yards from the old office space and to the left of the driveway, further into the park. It provides a more modern and comfortable environment for the year-round staff to work, a conference room and the ability for people to access the office staff from the outside from a walk-up window.
Blair said commission decided to trim the 9-acres off the front of the fairgrounds where the old building was located, which was originally fairground’s property but transferred to the Land Bank.
“Commission recognized the fact that if they’re going to sell off those out-lots in a future development, our office was in the way and they relocated it and decided to build a new building 300-feet deep into the property,” he said.
The old building was torn down as part of the future redevelopment because moving the office a couple hundred yards into the fairgrounds into a space that wasn’t being used for parking or activities makes it a good use of space and allows room for other projects.
“We remain committed to finding a hotel to add to the benefits and the high quality events that we have at the fairgrounds and Champions Center,” Harris said. “We are very hopeful to find a developer but do not have a time table on when that will be.”
This new future development comes as other businesses have been added near the fairgrounds in recent years.
A Sheetz location opened in September 2023 along Titus Road at the I-70 exit, the former site of the Springfield Antique Center. The company bought the property from Gallery 59, owner of the Springfield Antique Center, for $3.13 million, according to Clark County Auditor’s Office property records.
A Love’s Travel Stop opened in 2017 at the I-70 and Ohio 41 interchange. The $7.5 million site was formerly occupied by the Prime Fuel station.
If any developers are interested in working with the county, reach out to Harris at 937-521-2181.
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