Alachua County Board of Commissioners will meet Tuesday to discuss a $25 million plan for new fairgrounds.
The new fairgrounds, which will be located near Northeast Waldo Road, will have bigger buildings and an indoor track. The building space would be 101,000 square feet larger than the current fairgrounds buildings, said Ron Gromoll, the fairgrounds manager. The fairgrounds are a popular venue for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, Alachua County Fair and Alachua County Youth Fair, but Gromoll expects more programming for the new fairgrounds.
“It will have a huge economic impact, not only to the areas it’s going to be in, but also to the whole area of Gainesville,” he said.
The new land is owned by Weyerhaeuser Company. The old fairgrounds property would be sold to the company and made into a commercial or industrial property, Gromoll said.
Gina Peebles, the assistant county manager for Alachua County, said the board will ask the state for an extra $2.5 million for the 18-month project.
“The current fairgrounds is located on a major intersection,” Peebles said. “It was thought that by not having the fairgrounds there, additional commercial businesses could move into that spot and then that would help revitalize that part of our community.”
Funding for the project will come from a tourist development tax, which is for tourists staying in local hotels, Peebles said.
“It’ll be a really great functional building that’ll have a long useful life for the citizens’ investment,” she said.
