The Fairgrounds Marketing and Usage group held a town hall meeting last Wednesday to give the community of Lincoln County an idea of how an expo center could benefit the county.
Vice President of the Lincoln County Rodeo Association, Inc. Pete Annis and Fair Association member Dale Christiansen gave the presentation. Those in attendance caught a first glimpse of what the expo center would look like through drawings done by Merrill High School student, Steve Roets.
Annis addressed the concerns about how this expo center would compete with similar buildings throughout the state, including Merrill’s own MARC center. According to Annis, although the expo center could hold similar events to what these other centers already offer, the focus would be on bringing events to central Wisconsin that these facilities cannot. The expo center would provide the required space for large events like tractor pulls, motocross, demolition derbies, rodeos and similar events that these existing centers don’t have the space to accommodate. The expo center would also be able to meet the seating requirements of big-name concerts unlike these other centers.
“This is a no brainer. This is something Lincoln County has to do,” Annis said.
The closest competition for a similar expo center would come from Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in Green Bay and Alliant Energy Center in Madison. With Lincoln County’s central location in the state of Wisconsin, the proposed expo center could offer another tour stop for venues on their way from Chicago to Minneapolis, Annis said.
The Usage group also gave the community an idea of how much revenue a center like this could bring into the community. They estimated that the center would bring in about $790,000 in income each year. This figure only represents the facility filling events to half of its capacity and also only holding large concert events in the spring and fall. The estimated expenses of running the facility are at about $474,000 a year, giving the center an estimated $316,000 profit.
Along with event ideas, Annis and Christiansen discussed the goals the Usage group has for the expo center. By bringing the expo center to Lincoln County, they hope to bring more people to the community to boost the economy. They plan on recruiting at least three new, fairly large events in the first two years, not including the county fair or rodeo. They hope to reach the goal of $790,000 in revenue within the first year of operation and also to become a self-sustained fairgrounds operation by eliminating tax levy support. As part of the expo center’s versatility, they hope to have events planned year round to utilize it fully. Once the expo center has been established, they plan to give back to the county by improving overall aesthetics of the fairgrounds and also by giving back through increasing donations.
“This is going to be a community project,” Christiansen said.
As far as costs go for the expo center, completing the entire structure would cost around $7 million, but by building the center in phases, the amount can be broken up and spread out over time. One of the options for a first phase in construction, which would include the substructure of the whole facility, berms, seating, bathrooms and concession stands, would cost around $3,410,000. The lowest cost option for phase one would provide the substructure and berms of the facility without bathrooms and concessions at about $2.5 million.
The Lincoln County Board voted in April to go forward with replacing the grandstand at the fairgrounds with a new grandstand, rather than pursuing the expo center option.
“We’re asking the County Board to take a step back and look at things,” Christiansen said.