Front Gate of the New York State Fair, Syracuse, N.Y.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has formed a State Fairgrounds Privatization Task Force to evaluate the benefit of pursuing either full or partial privatization of the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse. Fifty million dollars has been slated for a state-funded renovation project currently underway at the 375-acre site.
"We’re hoping to foster a conversation with a potential private partner on all fronts," said Matt Millea, Deputy Director of State Operations and head of the State Fairgrounds Privatization Task Force. "Right now we’re interested in hearing from potential vendors on what model they think will work best. Options include running 365 days a year to the state maintaining the current 12-day run and then having the private management firm for the rest of it, or somewhere in between. We haven’t ruled anything out at this point.”
As part of the $50 million renovation, the fairgrounds built a new Main Gate, reminiscent of the original New York State Fair’s entrance. Another project was the demolition of the old racing grandstands. “The former track was an historical piece of the original state fair, but was a limiting factor in how much space was available for revenue-generating opportunities,” said Millea. In its place, the fairgrounds opened the new 315-space Empire RV Park, which Millea touts as a “guaranteed money-maker" and expanded the carnival midway to cover 15 acres, including adding a “Kiddieland.”
“We’ve already seen with the one event that we’ve had so far, the Syracuse Nationals, the fans could not have been more excited about the new layout and the new space,” Millea reflected. “And we still have a lot of acres that haven’t been opened up yet because we’re just in Phase I here. We’ve added 66 acres of an otherwise land-locked piece of property that can now be used to evolve the space into an attractive 365-day-a-year facility.” The fairgrounds are currently home to over 500 events annually.
Less noticeable, and equally important, renovations included redoing water and sewage lines, improving drainage and moving electrical lines underground and out of guests’ walkways.
Governor Cuomo has also demonstrated interest in revitalizing other county fairs throughout New York, launching a $5 million Agricultural Fairgrounds Infrastructure Improvement Program this fall. “County fairs are an opportunity for people to gather and commune…and get in touch with their county, town and village governments,” said Millea. “I think in general, the Governor gets real excited about opportunities to connect with the citizens and I think that he sees the state fair and county fairs in general as an opportunity to bring people together and tell stories.”
“There are great historic facilities that were built a hundred years ago. They’re still here and we’ve made them nicer,” said Millea. “What I think the Governor is most excited about with the state fair, is we’ve got a great story to tell, which is that we have great history here.”
While honoring that history, the New York State Fair is connecting with the present and looking to the future as well, according to Millea. “We’re bringing in innovation, technology and WiFi. We’re talking with New Yorkers about all of the things that the State of New York is doing to try to serve them better, too. With the State Police, Department of Labor and the Division of Human Rights, there we get to have a conversation with New Yorkers in a way that we don’t typically have.”
Marla Calico, CFE, president and CEO of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE), and a 40-year veteran of the fair industry, said of the privatization that the New York State Fairgrounds should be “doing their due diligence to look at all possible ways of making sure their taxpayers get a fair deal.” Calico said that several fairs around the country operate at privately-run facilities. She added that IAFE focuses on a fair’s commitment to traditional agricultural heritage and organizational mission rather than who manages the facility or event.
The New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets will serve as contractor to the potential private partner and “manage that contract and relationship so that we don’t lose [the Fair’s] connection to the agricultural industry in the State of New York,” according to Millea. “First and foremost, agriculture will always have a key role at the state fair. For the 12 days of the state fair, one of the things we’ll be very clear with our potential partner is that we’re not going to diminish the role of agriculture in the discussion of the state fair whatsoever.”
For Millea, “the $50 million investment, the central location in the state, [and] the opportunity to have a 365-day venue,” all make the New York State Fairgrounds attractive to potential private partners. “We think we’ve made it a much more marketable facility with much more opportunity for a public-private partnership to really be beneficial to both sides.”
Millea is looking to invite interested parties to tour the facility and meet with government officials toward the Sept.5 Labor Day holiday so they can “really see it in action.” The Great New York State Fair will run Aug. 25-Sept. 5. “We’re really excited about the buzz that we’re seeing already in Central New York specifically, but also all across the state,” said Millea. “The Goverrnor recently announced a million dollar advertising campaign where we’re really pressing the message out to Buffalo, Long Island, Capital District and the North Country areas where the state fair’s conventional marketing campaigns really don't reach. We really want to pass the million-visitor mark this year and we’re so excited about all of the new additions that we’ve made. We welcome everybody to come and see the great improvements.”
“When this fair wraps up, and we’ve got the chance to kick the tires on some of these new improvements, we’re going to start the discussion in earnest about finding out what the private sector thinks of our facility and what partnerships might come from the investments that we’ve made,” concluded Millea.
Interviewed for this story: Matt Millea, (518) 474-9883, matthew.millea@exec.ny.gov; Marla Calico, (417) 862-5771.