Continuing coverage
The Springfield News-Sun is committed to providing in-depth coverage in and around the Clark County Fairgrounds, including stories on nearby industrial parks and tourism events. This week, the News-Sun will have continuing coverage on the Clark County Fair, which begins Friday.
By the numbers
$200,000: Project cost of the new storage facility and the demolition of the old storage facility at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
$10 million: Estimated cost to replace existing buildings at the Fairgrounds.
1,200: Estimated number of hotel rooms in Clark County.
A new hotel planned for the Clark County Fairgrounds in the next few years could boost Springfield tourism jobs and revenue, according to local leaders.
The Clark County Agricultural Society wants a hotel near Gate B on Ohio 41, where a fairgrounds storage facility will be torn down later this year.
“I would hope (to add the hotel) in the next two to three years,” said Allan Hess, the executive director of the Agricultural Society. “That’s my guess. The economy could tank again.”
“We’ll put together a package and see if we can’t find (interested) hotel folks,” Hess said.
Chris Schutte, director of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said there’s a need for a lodging facility along Interstate 70 near the fairgrounds, the No. 1 tourism driver in Clark County.
Schutte said having an on-site hotel enhances the potential for growth, both for the fairgrounds and for Clark County’s lodging industry.
Schutte said Clark County has approximately 1,200 hotel rooms, and for some bigger events, rooms are hard to find. The hotel could bring more people to Springfield and could also encourage more people to stay when they otherwise wouldn’t have.
“For us, it seems like a hotel is well warranted out there and really, the sooner, the better,” Schutte said.
The agricultural society recently built a new maintenance facility near the Champions Center on the fairgrounds. The old storage facility once served as hangars when the site was used as an airport until the 1940s. They’re the only remaining buildings from the airport.
The total cost of the recent renovations to storage facilities is approximately $200,000, which includes both the new facility and the demolition of the old facility. The hangars will be torn down after the fair this fall.
Clark County Senior Fair Board president Jay Flax said the hotel has been discussed for many years. The fair board is looking forward to the moving ahead with the project.
He said the growth of industrial parks and the Champions Center make the fairgrounds an ideal location for a hotel.
“We feel it’s a great place for a hotel, and we feel it will benefit the fairgrounds to have it right there,” Flax said.
There’s also a growing need for rooms for people working at the fairgrounds, such as performers and exhibitors.
“There are people always looking for a place to stay,” Flax said. “It’d be a big draw if people could stay right there at the fairgrounds.”
For larger events, people often have to drive out of town to find hotels with vacancies.
“We fill every hotel in Clark County when we have those big events,” Flax said. “There’s a need for more rooms yet. People have to go to Dayton or Columbus to get a room.”
In 2003, the agricultural society formulated a master plan for the fairgrounds that included updated facilities and a waterfront hotel. Hess said the renovations are still in the works, but won’t happen for some time.
“It’s such a major expense, plus you lose the revenue while you’re doing the construction because of events you used to have here,” Hess said. “It’s got to be well-planned and conceived before we were even get into the construction phase.”
Some of the events held at the fairgrounds — such as the antiques extravaganza and the Cars and Parts swap meet — would have a major effect on the economy if they went away for a year.
“If I make those go away without planning that we can have them someplace during the construction phase, it would hurt us,” Hess said. “It’s not a matter of them going away, but they might have to be transferred somewhere else. That’s a major undertaking to move one of those big events.”
Hess said to replace the four main buildings at the fairgrounds was estimated at $10 million in 2003. The costs have likely increased over the last 10 years, Hess said.
Clark County commissioners own the fairgrounds and would have to approve the sale of the land, but they can’t do it without the agricultural society’s board of directors approval, per the Ohio Revised Code.
The recent and planned improvements around the I-70 interchange — including Prime Ohio, Prime Ohio II and the planned two-sided digital sign — could kick-start the project.
“Somewhere in the future, I imagine it will happen because it makes sense,” Hess said.
The development of Prime Ohio II will also create a need for more lodging, and possibly a few restaurants, near Ohio 41.
“It creates another demand for hotel rooms,” Schutte said.
Hess said there’s been no negative feedback from the Fair Board on the addition of the hotel at the fairgrounds, although the financial terms are a key.
“It’s got to be the right deal, or we can’t do it,” Hess said.
Hess said he expects the hotel at the fairgrounds to be wildly popular, especially on the 15 weekends the fairgrounds hosts major events.
“They’d rather stay right here than five miles to the west,” Hess said. “I think if we put in the right size hotel, they ought to be able to keep it full most of the time.”
The fair office could also be relocated, Hess said, because any hotel is going to want access to Ohio 41.
“We’d have to have another building,” Hess aid.
County commissioner Rick Lohnes said he’s excited to hear the fair board is moving forward with its plans.
“I know it’s been a goal of theirs,” Lohnes said. “It would be a great thing out there.”
The county is also “very interested” in the nearby armory building, if it were to become available, Lohnes said. It’s currently occupied by the 37th Special Troops Battalion of the Ohio Army National Guard. Part of the land is already owned by the county and is leased to the military. Lohnes he’s confident the building can be purchased at a reasonable price.
“Obviously, we would be in the cat bird’s seat to make an offer on that,” Lohnes said. “I’ve had some good conversations with them.”
Hess said the agricultural society would be interested in the land.
Last summer, the city and the fairgrounds reached an agreement on the nearby gravel pit formerly used by the Shelly Company.
Hess said the water will be used by two different schools, including the Clark County Career Technical Center and the Global Impact STEM Academy, for aquaculture programs.
They’ll also raise fish in the lake through a college consortium program with Freshwater Farms of Ohio in Urbana.
The long-term goal, Hess said, is to raise free-range paddlefish in the lake through an agreement with a local group.
“They get huge,” Hess said. “They’re able to net them when they’re ready to harvest them.”
In the coming years, asphalt work, roof repairs and painting will have to be completed, Hess said.
The fairgrounds will also get a boost with promotion in the coming years. Schutte said the Convention Facilities Authority’s planned double-sided digital sign near Prime Ohio II will promote not just events at the fairgrounds, but all over Clark County. The sign will be seen by 100,000 cars per day on I-70.
The sign will promote events in and around town that Schutte said go “widely unknown.”
“It’s a game changer for all of our attractions,” Schutte said. “Not only will it give people actual hard information, but it’s a perception changer. People will drive by and say ‘Wow, that’s incredible’. It’s really going to start to establish Springfield as a destination for entertainment, and that’s something we’ve worked towards. It’s going to be the culmination of that.”
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