DuPage officials favor fairgrounds site for transportation complex

A DuPage County Board committee has given preliminary approval for a proposal to use land at the fairgrounds property in Wheaton for a sprawling new highway maintenance facility.

Several county board members addressed the project — estimated to cost between $73 million and $82 million — during a transportation committee meeting Tuesday. The committee also backed a resolution that would authorize the use of the north end of the fairgrounds campus for the construction of the DuPage Division of Transportation facility.

“I know it’s a big project, it’s a lot of money, but it’s needed,” county board member Jim Zay said.

Still, some neighbors and an organizer of the county fair have voiced concern about the county’s plans for the fairgrounds. And among county board members, Lynn LaPlante has said she doesn’t like the “industrialization of the fairgrounds.”

At a meeting of the full board last week, officials outlined the proposal to replace a facility on the west side of County Farm Road originally built in the 1950s and expanded two different times for added vehicle and equipment storage.

The proposed building is over 100,000 square feet larger than the existing one. Officials evaluated multiple possible locations for a new complex, including building on the current site. The transportation division wants to co-locate administrative staff with maintenance staff into one facility.

“We can’t expand on that side because there’s a creek that runs on that side. We’re just kind of landlocked over there,” Zay said.

The north side of the fairgrounds is mostly open space. Barns arranged in a U shape once held horses during the county fair.

“Those barns have been there for a long time. And again, nobody likes big developments, but this is the spot to do it,” Zay said. “It puts it on the campus. It’s by the railroad tracks. It’s away from the houses.”

Mary FitzGerald Ozog, who heads the transportation committee, reiterated Tuesday that officials plan on creating about 4 acres of open space — the equivalent of three football fields — on the fairgrounds. The south wall of a proposed salt shed would serve as a retaining wall and could be used as a backdrop for the new green space.

“So when you picture that, there should be plenty of room for various fairgrounds functions, and I think it’ll be, overall, definitely an aesthetic improvement,” Ozog said.

The resolution is scheduled to be up for a full board vote Dec. 10.

According to the language, the transportation division has included funds in its fiscal 2025 budget request and its multiyear plan for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to pay for $60 million toward the cost of the facility using a combination of motor fuel tax and local gas tax dollars. The county also could partially fund the new facility with a future interfund loan.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241203/news/dupage-officials-favor-fairgrounds-site-for-transportation-complex/