FAIR BIT OF FIXING UP
Improvements planned for county's expo site
by Dolores Orman, Staff Writer, Democrat and Chronicle
HENRIETTA -- Goodbye, Monroe County Fairgrounds. Hello, Fair and Expo Center.
The name change is the small beginning of what will be major developments at the property at East Henrietta and Calkins roads under a $12 million master plan unveiled Wednesday.
A 40,000-square-foot exhibition building, an indoor arena for horse shows and small vehicle racing, a grandstand and an interactive farm learning center that traces food from the field to the table are among the new features in the Monroe County Fair and Recreation Association plan.
The goal is to implement the entire master plan by 2015, but association officials said it could happen sooner, depending on the search for funding sources such as public and private grants, the sale and naming rights to the Fair and Expo Center, a capital campaign and a new association membership drive.
The association, a non-profit organization owns the fairgrounds property. Earlier this month, Wegmans Food Markets took ownership of about 30 acres of the 80-acre site that it purchased for about $3 million. Wegmans has not yet said what it intends to do with the land, which fronts Calkins Road.
"We have a new footprint," Barbara Pierce, fair association president, said during a news conference Wednesday at the Dome Center, a reference to the 50 remaining fairground acres.
Explaining why the land was sold to Wegmans, Pierce said for many years the association has known that the fairgrounds needed improvement and development but hadn't had the money. "We hadn't been in a position to put our best face forward," she said.
Association officials realized the biggest financial asset was the land. So its sale provides the association with a portion of what's needed to improve the fairgrounds. The annual Monroe County Fair is held there in July. The Dome Center, which is part of the complex, is the site of events year round.
The association hired Bullock, Smith & Partners, Inc., a Tennessee-based architecture and planning firm, to develop the master plan. The firm specializes in planning and designing fairground and other large facilities such as theme parks.
Fran Tepper, fair association executive director, said that the master plan will be implemented in three phases. The first phase, which has started, will include improving the Dome Center and Minett Hall, a smaller exhibition hall.
The second phase, expected to begin in about six months, will include demolition of the grandstand and three existing buildings on what is now the Wegmans site. The association is leasing the property from Wegmans through Aug. 31, 2006, to allow for that and other projects, such as establishing new entrances, construction of a new maintenance building and new grandstand.
The third phase would include the construction of the large exhibition building, the indoor arena, courtyards and walkways.
Tepper estimated the cost of the first two phases at $4 million.
Henrietta and Monroe County officials, as well as businesspeople, fair sponsors and some association board membrs, attended the news conference.
"It's a great day for Henrietta," said town Supervisor James Breese. He noted that the town has talked to the fair association over the years about fixing up the area and that past master plans fizzled for a lack of money.
"Now we have a plan that really means something," he said.
Breese commended Wegmans for what he termed its critical role in making the fairgrounds plan possible by buying the adjoining property. "I think it's important for the community to recognize that Wegmans really made this possible. Let's pledge now to get together and make it happen."
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks said the fairgrounds operations "has a huge impact" on the economy and draws people from across the region. Last year, excluding the fair, the grounds and facilities hosted 129 shows that brought in $250,000, she said.
"This is a place that is putting Rochester and Monroe County on the map," Brooks said.
(dorman@democratandchronicle.com)
Henrietta OKs Wegmans store
Town Board also gives green light to proposal for water park and hotel
by Dolores Orman, Staff Writer, Democrat and Chronicle
HENRIETTA -- Wegmans Food Markets Inc. got the green light Wednesday for a 130,000- square-foot superstore on Calkins Road.
The Henrietta Town Board, in a 4-1 vote, granted the chain's request to rezone property from residential to commercial, allowing the company to proceed with the project.
In other action, the board, following a public hearing, unanimously granted a special permit for a proposed multimillion-dollar indoor water park and hotel in town.
The Wegmans project had been scaled back from a proposal that the board rejected 3 to 2 in 2003.
Among other things, the 2005 revision dropped a proposed senior housing project, reduced the additional on-site retail areas from two to one 5,000 square-foot section and added an entrance from East Henrietta Road.
After introducing the resolution approving the Wegmans rezoning, town Supervisor James Breese noted that there had been a lot of discussion about the project over the years and that it was time to end the talk and move on.
"I commend the Wegmans people for changing their plan to make it a better plan," said Breese, who with Town Board member Michael Yudelson, had supported a similar project in 2003.
Breese also acknowledged that there were residents opposed to the project who would remain opposed.
"I have never believed that represents a majority," he said.
The resolution set some conditions relating to such things as landscaping and traffic signals.
Joining Breese and Yudelson this time around were William Mulligan and Janet Zinck. Mulligan didn't give an explanation for his vote. However Zinck said the changes, such as the smaller area to be rezoned and proposed landscaping, made the project have "less of a strip-mall appearance."
"This board and Wegmans have worked hard to make it (the project) win-win," she said.
Catherine McCabe, the lone "no" vote, said she shops at Wegmans and praised it as an excellent business.
My vote is in no way anti-Wegmans," McCabe said. She questioned whether the site was the "proper location" for the store. She submitted her written objections for the record.
Later, she said the superstore "will change the dynamics of Calkins Road," which features park areas and a senior citizens center on the same side as the Wegmans site. "I am concerned about what will happen to residents," she said. There are a lot of people opposed to it. There is no way the vote should be unanimous."
Some people in the audience applauded after the roll-call vote.
The site of the project is 30 acres of former Monroe County fairgrounds property that Wegmans purchased from the Monroe County Fair and Recreation Association this year. Under the approved proposal, 14.4 acres will be rezoned, adding to existing acreage already zoned commercial. About 12.7 acres will be left undeveloped.
The proposed site for the 18-acre water park and six-story hotel is south of Interstate 390 and west of Hylan Drive.
Tim Carr, owner of a Spencerport-based landscaping company, and Joseph O'Donnell, a Rochester architect, are the developers who want to build the water park and hotel.
"We are working toward making this a world-class resort," Carr said during his presentation to the Town Board.
The facility would draw from 200 miles around, he said. "It's going to be designed around families."
None of the handful of speakers at the hearing opposed the project. Most asked questions.
Ronnie Davis, owner of Margies Family Restaurand on West Henrietta Road and landlord for some other Henrietta businesses, urged the Town Board to grant the special permit.
"Henrietta needs something to make Henrietta, Henrietta," he said.
"Henrietta needs this to come alive again or businesses are just going to run out."
Before deciding on Henrietta, Carr and O'Donnell had considered three other sites, O'Donnell said: Greece in the area of Interstate 390 and Ridge Road, the Charlotte area near the ferry terminal, and Victor in Ontario County.
The project has been backed by a group of investors and two major hotel chains are being considered, the two men said.
Carr and O'Donnell have estimated the construction of the $60 million to $70 million project could be completed by late 2007 if everything goes according to plan and if they receive all the necessary approvals.
(dorman@democratandchronicle.com)
From the President
by Dale Grady, president, Monroe County Fair and Recreation Association, Inc.
I am pleased to announce that the board of directors approved the last step of the Phase One improvements to the Fair & Expo Center. Plans are complete, and construction of the new horticulture building will begin as soon as the weather breaks. The building will be used for horticultural events at the fair and will be an entrance way for the entire building complex. It will set in between The Dome Arena and Minett Hall and will replace the existing connector hall. This is a much needed enhancement to the facility and completes the Phase One plans of reorienting the grounds.
In addition to the new horticulture building, a new paved entrance road is in place to connect Calkins Road to the paved parking lots, and soon, new signs will be installed at the entrances. These, with many other improvements, will make future events more convenient for attendees at our developing community center.
Fairgrounds Improvements ready for use
by Alan Morrell, Staff Writer, Democrat and Chronicle
HENRIETTA -- The Monroe County Fairgrounds now has a dirt motor sports track, a horse arena and a new ticketing center. Those were among the new features unveiled Friday at the Monroe County Fairgrounds.
Tickets for fairgrounds events now will be centralized and sold at a new Fair & Expo Center building, which connects the Dome Center and Minett Hall.
A $4 million project spruced up the complex and will allow for more events and an improved Monroe County Fair, said Fran Tepper, executive director of the Monroe County Fair & Recreation Association.
"The fairground has taken on an entirely new look," she said, flanked by local politicians and association members.
The complex is on Calkins Road, near East Henrietta Road.
A news conference was held Friday morning inside the 4,000-square-foot Fair & Expo Center, which can be rented for events and will be used as the horticulure building for the county fair, scheduled for July 9-13 next year. That building replaced a narrow walkway which had connected the Dome Center to Minett Hall.
Improvements also have been made to Minett Hall, and parking lots and an area for recreational vehicles has been added.
Work is ongoing, and large piles of dirt and stone sit on the property. The next phase of construction likely will be next year, officials said.
The $4 million project has been paid for by the association's sale of land to Wegmans Food Markets and donations from a local bank, Tepper said.
Wegmans is building a 100,000-square-foot store on Calkins Road, which is expected to open next year. That Wegmans will replace a smaller store on East Henrietta Road.
(amorrell@democratandchronicle.com)