Montgomery County closer to getting new fairgrounds

Brookville to vote on two ordinances to pave way for relocation.

Brookville - The BROOKVILLE Council is scheduled to vote next week on two ordinances that would pave the way for a new Montgomery County Fairgrounds. The vote comes four months after the Montgomery County Agricultural Society, owners of the Dayton fairgrounds site in the 1200 block of South Main Street, voted to move the 37-acre fairgrounds from Dayton to Brookville.

If the Brookville council approves the ordinances, then the new fairgrounds could be placed at the Northbrook Industrial Park off of Arlington Road under the new name of the Montgomery County Agricultural Park & Event Center.

If approved, the project could cost up to $13 million, according to Alan Schaeffer, the real estate attorney representing the agricultural society.

City council recently held a public hearing about the ordinances at Brookville High School. Public safety concerns about the Dayton fairgrounds site were among the comments made during the hearing.

One of the people expressing that concern to city council was Janet Hawvermale, agricultural society board member and Germantown resident.

“I’ve seen the fair through the best part and I’ve seen the fair start crumbling,” Hawvermale said of the Dayton site. “It can become an educational place for the school children from this area and from the county, where mom and dad don’t have to worry about their children’s safety.”

Laura Flory of Germantown talked about her time as a 4H student visiting the Dayton fairgrounds. “Looking back, there were kind of some security issues. The location of our fair, you just can’t run around, have fun and be with your

friends without having that in the back of your mind,” she said.

Sheriff Phil Plummer said the comments made were valid and that in the past, the deputies have had to deal with a variety of things that deal with public safety.

“There are some security issues,” Plummer said. “The biggest problem that I have at the fair is that it’s kind of a tight venue. There is always a line to get in, it was backed up on Main Street. We were always concerned about crashes on Main Street and pedestrian traffic crossing Main Street.”

Plummer went on to say that in the past, deputies had to deal with large fights on Saturday nights of the fair. There have been fights in the last couple of years, but they are on a much smaller scale.

“In the last couple of years, we did not have fights because we were prepared for them,” Plummer said referring to the fact that staffing levels were increased on Saturdays.

Sonja Keaton, Brookville’s assistant city manager, said one of the reasons the agricultural society choose Brookville is because of the industrial park’s proximity to Interstate 70, a location agricultural society board members hope will increase the amount of visitors. “Plus, a lot of the infrastructure is already in or real close to the lot that they’re purchasing,” she said.

“Having the fairgounds in a rural area such as Brookville will cater to people that the fair is intended to attract,” said Curt Schreier of Brookville at the hearing. “Dayton doesn’t carry enough rural kids to attend or get more involved, 4-H, FFA, Scouts, etc.” He also added that having the fairgrounds in Brookville will give the city positive name recognition. Last month, the city’s Planning Commission recommended that council approve the two ordinances.

The first ordinance had to do with a proposed amendment to the city’s zoning code that would allow a new permitted use in the Light Industrial District and Highway Service District for a governmentally owned or operated parks and recreation facilities like a Montgomery County fair facility. The other ordinance has to do with rezoning a portion of the proposed property from General Industrial District and Highway Service District to Planned Industrial District.

Artist renderings of the preliminary site show a Roundhouse, two livestock buildings, an open air pavilion, grandstands, restrooms, concession facilities and a maintenance building.

The agricultural society’s board entered into an option to purchase agreement with the Miller Valentine Group for the South Main Street property in December.

“They have an option to purchase for two years,” said John Yansik, vice president of the agricultural society board.