Much of the $50 million transformation of the state fairgrounds is beginning to wrap up, and Governor Andrew Cuomo stopped by Wednesday to take a look. The governor also announced the launch of an effort to look into privatizing fairgrounds operations.
Cuomo says for decades, the fairgrounds has been a metaphor for Upstate New York. It just wasn’t getting the investment it deserved. Now, that’s changing.
"It's amazing that the fair has done as well as it has for as long as it has, basically relying on its history, with very little renovation, very little investment," Cuomo said. "Older buildings, older facilities. But still over one million visitors coming to the fair."
Cuomo says that’s simply not enough these days.
"That is a great tradition, but what are we doing about the future, and where is the improvement? Where is the investment? What are we doing to keep up with the changing competition, because competition is creating and recreating and what are we doing? When was the last time we looked at the state fair and we said, 'You know what? This is a tremendous economic opportunity.'"
With a $50 million makeover, Cuomo says the fair…and its visitors…are much more marketable.
"The work is going great this is now a much more competitive vehicle we are going to look for private sector partners and investors because we now have an asset that I believe will attract private sector operators."
Acting fair director Troy Waffner says seeking a private operator, either as a joint venture or to take it over completely, is a viable idea that should be considered.
"The goal of this is to have not just a better state fair, but to have a better facility," Waffner said. "We draw a million people to the fair, we draw another 500,000 to 700,000 for non-fair events, and we have them every weekend. The more we build that out, with the changes we've made now and the changes we'll be making later on, will add a lot of square footage inside and outside that we can really bring new shows in on."
Waffner says the elimination of the track alone opened up 60 acres, most of which is begin dedicated to a full-service 315 site RV park. He says the reconfiguration will also add space for the midway, which now includes a storm sewer to alleviate flooding, and underground electric service to eliminate most of the cables. Work on the new arched main entry gate is also just about finished. Cuomo says it’s part of a larger vision for the area.
"You see it everywhere you look. You see signs of birth.," Cuomo said. "What the county has done, changing the access roads into this facility. What the county has done, building a new amphitheater, what we’re doing with Bridge Street in Solvay, you feel the piece coming together. And those individual pieces of redevelopment then are synergistic and build one on the other. I believe this fair is at the center of it all."
Officials are hoping the work at the fairgrounds is complete in time for the Syracuse Nationals in mid-July.
