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Details of NY State Fair renovation revealed

Ellen Abbott
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WRVO News
Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the NY State Fair on Tuesday. Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney (left) joined him.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought some more specifics about the upcoming $50 million renovation of the New York State Fair when he visited the Syracuse fairgrounds Tuesday.  

Speaking to reporters at the state fair Tuesday, Cuomo ran down the bullet points of the state’s plans for the upcoming renovation: A state-of-the-art, multi-use Expo Center; a bigger Midway; an expanded Chevy Court and equestrian center; and a new entrance that will create a sense of grandeur when people enter the fairgrounds.

Credit Ellen Abbott / WRVO News
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WRVO News
Gov. Cuomo enjoying the traditional sausage sandwich with area lawmakers.

The biggest expenditure will be for the Expo Center, a 110,000-square-foot space, which will offer space for concerts, trade shows and other events when the State Fair is not going on. Spending $20 million to create such a facility goes to one of Cuomo’s big hopes for the renovation. 

"Our goal is to make that state fair work 12 months a year. Not just for a few weeks during the summer. But make it an economic engine and an attraction 12 months through the year,” said Cuomo.

But the renovation will also mean some fair favorites will go -- including the grandstand and the so-called Moody Mile, a century-old dirt track that has hosted races of all kinds for more than a century.  

Cuomo also said that Onondaga County’s new Lakeview Amphitheater will be working in concert with the fair as time goes on, noting that the two facilities together will create a bigger, better fairgrounds, with few events they won’t be able to handle once all the renovations are complete.

“It’s actually going to increase the effective footprint of the fair. So you’re going to have the fair and the amphitheater. And in one place, you’ll have all sorts of activities to have vendors and shows and then the amphitheater which is going to get you access to the lakefront, which is always a magic attraction to bring people,” said Cuomo.

Acting Fair Director Troy Waffner says getting down to the nitty gritty of the renovation process starts soon.

"We’ll start sometime this fall with the design and then taking down the grandstand the track and other buildings, and then begin rebuilding over a two-phase period, getting some done by the fair in 2016 and some done by the fair of 2017,” said Waffner.

Another goal of the fair renovation is to bring it up to present-day technologically, particularly with tickets sales. This year is the first the New York State Fair has offered any tickets sales via the internet.

Waffner says the redesigned entryway to the fair, will combine high-tech ticket sale infrastructure with a historic look.

“The idea was to make it technologically functional in the 21st century, but historically significant in its aesthetic appeal. And it looks back on when everybody sees the carriage entrance to the fairgrounds, that’s what it looks like.” 

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.