More than fair

COEUR d'ALENE - It's where 4-H kids peddle their hogs, where junk food is dispensed in scoops and where family recipes are tested for ribbons.

But that's only a few days a year.

The sprawling 80 acres on Government Way is also a hub of the community, a viable venue for all kinds of events.

If all its potential was harnessed, according to Barb Renner, the Kootenai County Fairgrounds could be a major source of income for the community.

"I would love people to look at those fairgrounds as their own. I would love to see them develop a portion of the passion that I have," said Renner, Coeur d'Alene resident and a veteran of fairground management. "In the long run, the economic benefit will impact everyone in the community."

Fairgrounds stakeholders have quite a vision for the community area, said Renner, a board member of the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) that raises funds for fairground improvements.

So many associate fairgrounds with dirt and grit and popcorn - but she sees potential to host weddings there, as well as car and boat shows and conventions.

"If dreams could become reality: A 6,000 (capacity) multi-use event center," she envisioned. "You could have two or three events going on all at the same time."

Other tune-ups would be nice: Beautifying building facades, improving parking lots, adding new entrance gates, maybe a gazebo and garden.

Up to 50 major events could be held there a year, Renner believes, with hundreds of visitors spending hundreds of dollars a day.

"That could bring in $6 million (a year) to the community's economy," the retired restaurant owner estimated. "Now what's not to get excited about?"

Merlin Berger, a Fair Foundation board member, said the group has been mulling over such changes for several years.

"It would be a great asset to North Idaho, not just for the city of Coeur d'Alene, but the surrounding area, if we were able to hold major events in there," Berger said.

But funding such improvements ... well, that's the tricky part.

"It's a long way in the future," Berger said.

Vision for a Venue

Anything is possible, according to Renner.

After all, the 75-year-old has already watched the local fairgrounds transform.

Fair board member from 1978 to 1985, then fair manager from 1985 to 2000 and a Fair Foundation member since 2004, Renner has been instrumental in many of the biggest changes to the grounds.

For instance, Renner helped bring in sweeping beautification, turning the acreage into greenery with asphalt sidewalks. New buildings accumulated thanks to private donations, like the Fish and Game facility and the Jacklin Building. Electricity was added throughout the grounds. Bathroom facilities were improved.

Renner believes these changes are what led to vaulting attendance at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, which brought in 23,000 in 1985 and has seen 80,000 in recent years.

"In 1985, it (the fairgrounds) was 100 acres of nothing but dirt and gravel," she remembered. "The buildings, not a single one you could use in inclement weather."

These improvements have made the fairgrounds a community gem, Berger said.

"Those who have been here a while, remember 25 to 30 years ago when there was a lot of mud, not a lot of grass," he said. "Now the 4-H kids have much better facilities, and larger."

Marge Chadderdon, also a foundation member, pointed out that sundry events are now held at the fairgrounds, like the annual spring dog show.

"It's kind of a sleeper, as far as tourism," she said. "There's a lot more to the fairgrounds than just the county fair."

Chadderdon attributes much of that to Renner.

"I would say we wouldn't have had the growth there without her leadership," Chadderdon said. "She's a true, true representative of the fairgrounds."

A Fair Life

Renner knows well the potential of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, she said, after a lifetime immersed in all things fair.

"There is no more beautiful setting for fairgrounds (than in Kootenai County)," she said. "Believe me. I've visited lots."

She first got a taste of what a fair could offer in the '60s, as a member of a horse drill team that practiced at the county grounds and toured rodeos and fairs across the nation.

"I saw many things happening at other venues," she remembered. "And our fairgrounds were just sitting there."

In 1988, she joined the International Association of Fairs and Expositions and was asked to tour endless workshops on fairground beautification, volunteering, management, budgeting.

"From 1993 to 2002, I made presentations in 44 states and five Canadian provinces," she said. "I saw what was going on nationwide within the fair industry, and was able to bring back those ideas to our own Kootenai County fairgrounds."

She has remained active in pursuing new ventures at the Fair Foundation even after breaking her neck in a fall in 2009.

She just has a passion for fairs, she said.

Renner has since the '50s, she explained, when the then-housewife blazoned her sewing, baking and cooking wonders at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo.

"I was able to garner blue ribbons I kept proudly on my wall for many years," she said.

She now realizes how much farther events can reach beyond the individual, she added, after co-owning several North Idaho restaurants for many years, including the Iron Horse restaurant.

"I think in owning the restaurants, I realized how important bringing events to town could be for our local economy," she said.

Miles to Go

There is support for continuing improvements of the fairgrounds.

"There's a need for it. People want to have their shows," Chadderdon said. "Some of these conventions, there's really no place for."

Feasibility studies recently conducted by Washington State University's economic development administration, Renner said, showed high demand from the public and private sectors to improve or rebuild fairground facilities.

Todd Christensen, CEO and President of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce, said he hasn't seen specific proposals for a new event center and couldn't predict the financial impact it could have.

Improving the fairgrounds can only benefit the community, though, Christensen added.

"Taking all steps on continuing to maintain and improve is always great for any facility," he said.

Continuing the grounds' metamorphosis hinges on contributions from the public, Renner said.

Only about 10 percent of the budget for the fair and fairgrounds is funded through county tax rolls, she said. The rest comes from events held on the grounds, and private and business donations.

"Many ask why we charge admission (for the fair). We have to. We have to pay for these things, and we don't want to go to the taxpayer," she said, adding with a chuckle: "We'd love to float a bond, but in these economic times, that probably wouldn't go over well."

The fair foundation is planning a fundraiser for improvements next spring.

Folks just need to remember what the fairgrounds mean to the community, Renner said.

"There's been so much work put into it," she said. " We need to enhance the fairgrounds for the future of our kids, grandkids, our great-grandkids. And most of all, for the economic impact it would have on North Idaho."