County, hospital look again at fair site.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

The Lane County Fairgrounds may be back on the list of possible sites for the new McKenzie-Willamette hospital.

County Administrator Bill Van Vactor asked county commissioners this week to consider putting the fairgrounds back in the running - and four out of the five commissioners have indicated that they'll at least take a look at the idea.

Van Vactor warned in an e-mail to commissioners that the fairgrounds, long beset by financial problems, "cannot continue to operate on existing revenue." He suggested possibly using money from the sale of the fairgrounds to relocate to an unspecified "superior site" somewhere else.

McKenzie-Willamette, with partner Texas-based Triad Hospitals, is also willing to take another look at the 55-acre property in the middle of Eugene, spokeswoman Rosie Pryor said.

"If the commissioners have an interest in discussing it, we absolutely do, too," Pryor said Thursday. "It's not easy to find a large acreage in a central location and in one ownership that will be suitable as a hospital site. But whatever we do, we want it to be a political asset, not a political liability - we would have to look at whether the county, the community and the hospital would all benefit."

McKenzie-Willamette held three public meetings this week to outline plans for its proposed $80 million hospital and take public suggestions on where it should go.

Because the fairgrounds appeared on an initial list of possible hospital locations prepared by the city of Eugene a year ago, it remained on a map of 11 potential sites even though hospital officials assumed the county wouldn't be interested in selling, Pryor said.

"We've taken absolutely nothing off the table," although the McKenzie-Willamette, now operating in Springfield, has options on several properties that could be potential sites, she said.

The renewed effort to consider the fairgrounds - used year-round for conventions and other gatherings as well as for the annual county fair each August - sparked an immediate negative response from Commissioner Bill Dwyer.

"This whole thing stinks, if you ask me," Dwyer shot back in an e-mail to Van Vactor.

But the rest of the commissioners indicated in interviews Thursday - with varying degrees of enthusiasm - that it may be time to take a long, hard look at the future of the prime property.

"Where I'm coming from, I'd like the board as a whole to have a serious conversation about this," Commissioner Anna Morrison said. "On a national basis, I know there are county fairs that no longer happen. There are many going through the same growing pains that we are, trying to accommodate animals, groundwater concerns and odors in an urban environment."

Getting a fair price for the fairgrounds - estimates of its value range as high as $70 million - would be difficult, Morrison acknowledged.

Commissioner Don Hampton, who just took office a few weeks ago, said he doesn't have the background yet to offer an opinion but noted that the options, including possible sale of the property, "are worth talking about."

Commission Chairman Peter Sorenson said he doesn't want to be dragged into discussing the issue on the basis of an internal e-mail exchange.

"I think the Fair Board needs to examine the viability of the fairgrounds operation and bring us that information so we can make a decision when it's appropriate to do so," Sorenson said. "I'm not interested in doing something under a cloud of alleged financial exigency."

Discussions must focus on what benefits the county and its citizens the most, Commissioner Bobby Green said.

"The first thing we need to decide is whether we're committed to doing anything different with that property based on the county's needs and fiduciary responsibility," Green said. "My passion around the fairgrounds is that it remains a fairgrounds, but there are certain amenities we have to have there in order to continue to do that."

At the same time, he said, "If somebody comes to us with a legitimate, serious proposal, we owe it to them to respond."

Fairgrounds Manager Warren Wong said he's been sounding the alarm about continuing financial shortfalls for several years. For example, the Fair Board has run up $150,000 on its line of credit to cover current payroll expenses, he said.

"The problem is that our revenue is based on how we can compete with other convention facilities in the private sector and the fact that our employees and benefits costs are based on the public sector because we're part of county government," Wong said. "I've tried to be really upfront with the Fair Board and the county commissioners on that."

Most other fairgrounds throughout the state receive a subsidy from their county governments, but the Lane County Fair doesn't, Wong said.

Given the county's continuing budget cutbacks - with more projected for the coming fiscal year - "under no circumstances would I ever consider asking for county general fund money to support the fairgrounds," Wong said.

The first longing glances at the fairgrounds property came several years ago from PeaceHealth, which eventually decided to relocate its Sacred Heart Medical Center from Eugene to Springfield's Gateway area instead.

Not long after, McKenzie-Willamette announced its intentions to merge with Triad, and the fairgrounds again found itself on a list of potential sites.

Early this year, real estate developer Arlie & Co. proposed a land swap that would have given the county a 110-acre parcel of undeveloped land south of Eugene in exchange for the fairgrounds property, which would have been made available for development of a hospital.

The commissioners unanimously and forcefully nixed that idea. Since then, other unsuccessful overtures have been made, including one from Fair Board Chairman Charles Warren in concert with Eugene City Councilor Gary Pape, who also serves on the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital Foundation's board of directors.