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DuPage panel debates potential performing arts center at fairgrounds

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A reimagined DuPage County Fairgrounds could be home to a performing arts center featuring a large outdoor concert venue and buildings for music, dance and digital media programs.

The county board’s economic development committee Tuesday got a first look at the results of an 18-month study looking into the feasibility of an arts center on the fairground property.

The study, which involved Choose DuPage and two consultants, proposed an $85 million performing arts campus that would include a large outdoor concert venue that could hold up to 10,000 people and feature a pavilion and stage for touring acts; a smaller “front porch” style outdoor venue that could seat up to 2,000 people on the lawn; and three buildings for music, dance and digital media programs.

A larger outdoor concert venue already has sparked interest from at least one national venue operator, consultants said.

The proposed performing arts center, long championed by county board member Lynn LaPlante, drew mixed responses from her colleagues.

“Something like this really does enhance the community as a whole,” board member Lucy Chang Evans said.

Others echoed similar sentiments, saying they support the performing arts and believe a center could bring benefits — a sense of community, jobs and tourism dollars — to the county.

However, some urged caution and noted the risks of the county running a large-scale concert venue. County board member Patty Gustin and board Chair Deborah Conroy questioned if the county would be able to draw larger acts with other existing and planned venues nearby.

“The risk is something that needs to be seriously considered,” Conroy said.

During a tense exchange between Conroy and LaPlante, who heads the board’s economic development committee, Conroy said the county should start out with the smaller “front porch” venue before embarking on any larger plans.

A detailed budget of the proposed complex shows the smaller venue would cost about $7.5 million to build while the larger amphitheater would cost about $15 million.

Next Tuesday, county board members also will discuss plans to build a new transportation complex — complete with a highway garage, salt shed and fuel center — on the north end of the fairgrounds. The project is estimated to cost between $73 and $82 million and would be largely paid for through the county’s division of transportation budget.

LaPlante said the county should take a look at the fairgrounds as a whole and develop a plan for it’s long-term use.

“I’ve made it clear that I don’t believe that an industrial complex is the highest and best use for the fairgrounds,” she added.

Jim McGuire, manager of the DuPage County Fair Association, worries the fate of the fair and other events which draw about 100,000 people a year could be hampered by either proposal. Events such as the Chicago Scots Highland Games could be forced out if open fairground space is gobbled up by a performing arts or transportation complex, he noted.

The fairgrounds also hosts various programs — like the county fair, pinewood derby or volleyball games — to serve county residents, McGuire added. It also serves as a training area for police, control center in emergencies and has hosted early voting in recent years.

“Everyone overlooks what currently happens at the fairgrounds,” he said. “None of that ever gets any consideration in these discussions, which is disappointing to me.”