DANVILLE, Ill., (WCIA) — A Danville business owner is looking to buy the Vermilion County fairgrounds.
Business owner Frank Wright owns Wright’s Heating and Air Service on Fourth St. He wants to purchase the 43-acre land as soon as possible. Wright plans on adding several features like an indoor go-kart track, softball field, and even a wedding venue.
He also said making sure there are free events for kids and families is important.
“Our family loves Vermilion County, we’ve prospered here,” Wright said. “Our private business had a record here last year in business. We just hired two new employees this year, so we know Vermilion County is booming. But we got to continue with this. When you have 43 acres sitting there doing nothing, being a drain on the tax roll and we have this thing that we can get done, that’s why we’re doing it. It’s a passion of ours.”
Wright said if he does buy the land he plans on still having fairs there with non-profit organizations. But the Vermilion County Fair Ground Board says it’s not for sale. The group posted a statement earlier today saying:
“This morning we learned of a supposed business proposal for our fair grounds. To our surprise, Mr. Frank Wright proposed the idea of buying the land where we host our annual county fair to build a sports park.
In the article posted by Vermilion County First, Mr. Wright stated many great ideas to benefit our community. There must’ve been some confusion in who owned our land as the idea was proposed to the County Board and not the Vermilion County Fair Board. Our deed states, if a fair is hosted annually, the grounds belong to the fair. As plans for the 2023 fair are fully in motion there is no intention of selling our land now or in the near future. With this being said, we invite Mr. Frank Wright to attend a board meeting and consider becoming a member. Together, we can not only continue to grow the success of our fair but provide even more for our community.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 Vermilion County Fair, June 6th through the 10th.”
The Board also said they would love to see it thrive and are taking steps toward a bigger and better fair.
