DuPage County OKs using part of fairgrounds for new transportation facility

DuPage County Board members have authorized the use of a part of the county fairgrounds in Wheaton for a new transportation facility, though the decision was not unanimous.

Under the proposal, the county would use the northern portion of the fairgrounds campus to develop a new facility for the DuPage Division of Transportation. The department is responsible for maintaining hundreds of miles of roads, an extensive trail network and snow removal.

The division’s existing highway maintenance facility, situated on the west side of County Farm Road, is aging. It was built in the late 1950s and has been expanded and modified multiple times. Still, it’s too small at less than 60,000 square feet, transportation leaders say.

“We have to build for the future,” said county board member Mary FitzGerald Ozog, who chairs its transportation committee.

On Tuesday, the board approved a resolution to use the land at the county-owned fairgrounds for the project — currently estimated to cost between $73 million and $82 million. The proposed 160,000-square-foot building would house equipment, vehicles, including snow and ice trucks, and staff offices.

“Those types of vehicles are over $200,000 these days,” Director of Transportation Stephen Travia said. “Being able to house them indoors, out of the elements, preserves the longevity and the county’s investment.”

County board member Lynn LaPlante, however, voted against the resolution.

“We all know that we need this type of infrastructure,” she said. “This is more about the process, and it’s about the location.”

LaPlante has long promoted the idea of creating a performing arts center on the fairgrounds.

“We could have done a better job of reaching out and talking to everyone who is invested in the fairgrounds, which is basically everyone in this county,” she said.

County board Chair Deborah Conroy and other members have thrown cold water on a large-scale performing arts hub at the fairgrounds after receiving the results of a feasibility study into such a venue there.

“The $87 million for ‘Ravinia West’ would have to be 100% fundraised. That is something that is not doable for this board. I don’t see that as feasible,” Conroy said Tuesday.

Officials also have sought to quell concerns among some neighbors and organizers of the county fair. A nonprofit entity leases the property from the county and hosts other gatherings there.

“We understand that this proposal for DuDOT may go forward in spite of our wish that it wouldn’t. But if it does, I’m here today to enlist your support financially and for preplanning to reinvent ourselves on the south portion of our grounds,” said Bonnie Paganis, the board president.

Ozog has made clear that officials plan on creating about 4 acres of green space — the equivalent of three football fields — on the fairgrounds. The plan also includes a green roof and solar panels so “it will be an ecologically advantageous building,” Ozog said.

“We’ve done everything we can to minimize the footprint of this and preserve as much of the fairgrounds for future use as possible, and not preclude use on that rest of that space, and hopefully improve that space as we go,” Travia said.

Trucks would use a ring road on the edge of the county campus parallel to the train tracks.

“The building’s actually going to be farther away from residential than it is right now,” board member Jim Zay said.

Officials also have discussed tearing down the grandstands — the seats have not been in use at the fair for years — and barn stalls arranged in a U-shape on the fairgrounds. Ozog said that she thinks “an awful lot of the functions” can continue to be held, and she expects limited disruption in what the fairgrounds does.

“I think that overall, we’ll end up with an improved fairgrounds,” she said, “but it will also help us provide our transportation mission.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241210/news/dupage-county-oks-using-part-of-fairgrounds-for-new-transportation-facility/