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Fairgrounds electrical problem sends one big event packing

Posted February 19, 2008 10:00 pm

Doug Finke

A problem at the Illinois State Fairgrounds that no one can figure out has already cost the city big bucks and threatens to do even greater economic damage the longer it lingers.

There's a major electrical problem affecting some parts of the fairgrounds, and state officials have been unable to say why it is occurring, what it will take to fix it, or when.

In the meantime, people like Joy Meierhans have to sit and fret. Meierhans is the organizer of the Illinois Horse Fair scheduled for the fairgrounds Feb. 29 through March 2. If the ongoing power problems can't be fixed in time, a show that draws an estimated 10,000 people, including vendors from all over the country, may have to be relocated.

"We're trying to find out if there are (alternative locations)," Meierhans said Tuesday. "We are a unique event. We take a lot of room."

Even if another location can be found, there's the problem of notifying everyone of the move.

"We hope the time doesn't come," Meierhans said. "I'm laughing at it because there isn't a whole lot else to do."

Although power is out on only part of the fairgrounds, public access to the entire site is restricted. That means events scheduled anywhere on the fairgrounds may have to be relocated or canceled.

Two events have already been relocated. The Illinois Beef Expo originally scheduled for this weekend has been delayed for a week and will move to the Interstate Center in Bloomington. All of the junior events were canceled because the center isn't large enough for the entire showcase, which draws up to 13,000 people, said Cimeron Frost, manager of the Illinois Beef Expo.

"I'm sure (the change) will impact our attendance," said Frost, who nevertheless said the organization feels very fortunate it was able to find another central Illinois location on such short notice.

The KidsFest to benefit the Children's Miracle Network at St. John's Hospital will move to the Prairie Capital Convention Center this weekend. The event is sponsored by the Capitol Radio Group.

Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Marcelyn Love said pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the fairgrounds is being restricted as a matter of public safety.

"There's no immediate threat, but when you have that many people plugging into stuff, it could be a problem," Love said. "Power is going off in certain areas, and we don't know why."

Love could not provide a figure for lost revenue as a result of the relocated events.

HDR, a national firm with Springfield offices, has been brought in to try and pinpoint the cause of the electrical problems. Underground power lines that criss-cross the fairgrounds are being tested to see if that's where the trouble lies.

"Early next week, we should have a good idea of the extent of the problem," said Dave Blanchette, a spokesman for the Capital Development Board, which handles state government's non-road construction projects.

Some areas of the fairgrounds are still OK. Administration buildings for both the departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources have power and will continue to operate. The fairgrounds has several electrical circuits, and the two state office buildings are on circuits that have not been affected by the outages.

Springfield Fire Station 10 on the east side of the fairgrounds hasn't experienced any recent outages, said deputy division chief Bob Reside. If power does go out, the station is equipped with an emergency generator, he said.

Horse barns in the northeast area of the fairgrounds also haven't been affected. Several harness-race trainers said they could cope even if power to the area was cut.

"We're basically done by noon," said Tom Simmons, who works with about 40 horses. "If it comes down to it, we can get away without any electricity earlier than that. The only downfall is no hot water and no lights in here to see to clean the stalls and do your work."

Another trainer, Tim Bredberg, said the biggest problem would be lack of hot water to give horses their daily bath.

"We could still live, but they wouldn't be as shiny, and they wouldn't smell as good," he said.

Some horse workers, like Carl Lacy, live in campers at the fairgrounds year-round. They were told to vacate their homes until the repair work is finished.

"I think they were afraid one of these transformers is going to blow up," Lacy said. "It's a liability thing."

A large electrical box is near where the campers are parked. It is surrounded by yellow police tape.

"We heard (Monday) it would be two to five days, but really I don't think they know," Lacy said. "I guess I'll have to get a hotel room."

Lacy said only three of the fairgrounds campers are occupied. Love put the number at six.

"We are offering any assistance we can at this time," Love said. "We have not received any comments from people that they are having issues with moving. Our staff is reaching out to them."

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527.

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