LANCASTER TO BUY LAND, BUILD NEW FAIRGROUNDS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

The city will buy 221 acres intended for a new $71 million Antelope Valley Fairgrounds and for industrial development.

The city will buy the property for $650,000 from Property 14 Investments and the Lancaster Development Co. and two Asian development companies, and must also perform $100,000 in street work.

Most of the property - up to 185 acres - would be used for the development of a replacement for the 58-year-old 76-acre fairgrounds at Avenue I and Division Street.

``This is not an overnight venture,'' Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts said. ``This is something that is three to five years, maybe even 11 years, down the line.''

Lancaster city officials and the fair board have been discussing the expansion of the old fairgrounds for several years.

In 1994, a consultant's report said in the next 20 years the fairgrounds needs to expand to 160 acres and requires new buildings totaling $71 million to adequately house its biggest annual event.

Councilman Michael Singer, who opposed the land purchase along with Councilwoman Deborah Shelton, said the geology of the area makes a poor site for a fairgrounds. The area's problems include land subsidence and fissuring, Singer said.

``It's on bad dirt,'' Singer said. ``This is an area that's going to cost a lot of money in mitigation.''

The property's surface has split into fissures in the past, but there are no soil conditions that require extraordinary efforts to overcome, said Jeff Long, Lancaster's public works director.

``All of those things are mitigatable in a normal manner,'' Long said.

One possible user for part of the industrial portion of the land is Michael's, a home crafts company. Lancaster officials are negotiating with Michael's to bring a $16 million, 423,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center. The company is looking at having 130 full-time workers at the center.

If the deal with Michael's cannot be closed, the land would still be available for use by another developer or for future expansion of the fairgrounds, city officials say.