Since it began 46 years ago inside large canvas tents pitched on grassy fields, the DuPage County Fair has been held on Manchester Road in Wheaton.
But over the years the amount of land set aside for the fair has shrunk as the neighboring county government complex has grown.
But under a proposal by fair organizers announced Tuesday, the DuPage County Fair would move across Wheaton to the Danada Forest Preserve.
Officials of the DuPage County Fair Association have approached county Forest Preserve District leaders with the proposal to lease as much as 80 acres of farmland in Wheaton–nearly double the acreage of the current fairgrounds.
District President Dewey Pierotti of Addison responded by setting up a special committee of elected forest preserve commissioners to examine the issue.
“We want the committee to look at this and offer their insights,” Pierotti said.
The proposal calls for setting up the fair on the southwest corner of Butterfield and Naperville Roads. That is more prominent site than the Manchester Road one, which is tucked behind the government center complex just east of County Farm Road.
Fair officials and county leaders have been examining such a move for some time, even as fair organizers have talked about expanding events and programs and the county has eyed the fairground land for future expansion. This is the first time an alternative has been proposed.
For about $1,500 a month, the fair association leases about 60 acres from the county for the current fairgrounds, though nearly 20 acres were taken away years ago when the county built a parking garage for the county courthouse.
The fair association’s lease ends in 2020.
DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said he has told fair officials he is not inclined to extend the lease beyond 2020 because he believes the county may need the property for other buildings or water retention. He also said it is in the organizers’ interest to move the fair if they want to expand the event.
“There are 40-plus acres there for the county, and while we may not need that property now we may very well need it 20 years from now,” Schillerstrom said. “The prudent thing to do is for the fair to look at other alternatives now, while we have 20 years left on the lease.”
Fair Association President Wilbert Hageman agreed with Schillerstrom that the current Manchester Road site is not good for the fair’s future.
He said the association is eyeing the 80 acres at Butterfield and Naperville, next to the Forest Preserve District’s new headquarters, to expand its conservation and technology exhibits as well as the fair itself.
“We’re outgrowing our space, and the county could utilize that property,” Hageman said. “You hate to leave the grounds you have been on for such a long time, but if there’s a need, we should do it.”
As DuPage has changed, so has the county fair.
Most of the county’s farms–and farmers–are gone or turned to other uses, so much of the livestock on display at recent fairs has been driven in from neighboring Will and Kane Counties. Fair organizers also are catering to changing interests of county residents, scheduling such things as demolition derbies and rodeos as well as Grammy Award-winning country music stars as headliners instead of local acts.
Hageman said that he expects the new Forest Preserve District committee to take at least six months to examine the issue, and that construction of a new fair site could last two to three years.
The association board, which is made up of volunteers, has done preliminary cost estimates of the move, but Hageman would not disclose that information.
Hageman said he believes the fair would be at home on forest preserve land. Both the fair association and the district provide agricultural, educational and preservation information to the public, he noted.
Not everyone is necessarily in favor of the move to Danada, which is the county’s largest forest preserve and the former horse farm of philanthropists Dan and Ada Rice.
“I would be very concerned because I’m not sure if that’s the wisest use of that land,” said Jill Ludvigsen, executive director of Friends of Danada, the volunteer group that runs many of the operations at the forest preserve.
“This area, and Naperville Road in particular, is growing so huge, do we really need more traffic? That’s really undesirable,” she said.
Besides the nearly weeklong fair during the summer, the fairgrounds host many other attractions during the rest of the year, including dog and model train shows, flea markets, and antique events.
The proposal to move the fair also will likely affect the model farm that is run on the site being eyed in the forest preserve.
A small group of former farmers volunteer to work much of that land with 1950s-era equipment and offer tours to teach about DuPage County’s past.
Lando Gingerich, one such volunteer, said Tuesday he had not heard about the proposal to move the fair to the model farm property.
“I don’t want to make any statements until I hear more about it,” he said.
But Hageman said now is the time for the fair to move, and he feels the Danada spot is the best place for it.
“I’m sure we’re going to have some comments about why we have to be larger,” he said. “But you need to keep up with the times.”
