Ada citizen committee recommends uses for Expo Idaho

The final 2018 demise of horse racing at the Ada County-owned Expo Idaho site led county commissioners to form a citizen committee in January 2020 to advise on the future of the 247 acre site — a public property that includes many more venues than just the 60-acre horse racing track.

Fast-forwarding to a year later when on Jan. 28, the 17-person Ada County Expo Idaho Citizen Advisory Committee delivered its findings to the county commissioners at its final meeting. Their recommendations presented three options that can function as standalone uses or be combined into a mix of uses for the site. The three options have themes of agriculture and outdoor education, sports and recreation and a commerce-centered mixed-use town center. It is now up to the Ada County Commissioners to act on the committee’s findings to create a new future for the property, best known as the home for the Western Idaho State Fair.

Expo Idaho today

Expo Idaho is a large contiguous parcel of unincorporated Ada County surrounded by Garden City. It is owned by Ada County. The site is bordered along its north side by the Boise River. The portion along the river is designated as a Flood Consideration Zone, which includes the Greenbelt.

Many think of the site as the fairgrounds because Expo Idaho is the home of the 10-day-long Western Idaho State Fair. The fairground portion of the site is 11 acres of mostly open ground. Next to the fairgrounds is the Expo Idaho Exhibition Center. This consists of a large exhibition center, the Western Town Banquet Hall, other buildings and several barns. These exhibition facilities are used throughout the year and host multiple revenue-producing events.

In the northwest corner of the site is a small cluster of facilities, including the North Ada County Fire Department, Ada County EMS, the University of Idaho Extension Office for Ada County and a small parking lot for access to the Greenbelt. Between these and the fairgrounds is Memorial Stadium, the current home of the Hawks, Boise’s minor league baseball team. The stadium was constructed in 1989 and has a 5-acre footprint. The Hawks hold a lease for it through 2038. When not used for games, the stadium also hosts concerts. Between the stadium and the Greenbelt is a 16-acre commercial RV park, which has a year-to-year lease with a four-year extension option.

The southwest corner of the site is occupied by the 19-acre Lady Bird Park, separated from the rest of the site by 35 acres of parking lots. The land for the park was purchased with earmarked Land & Water conservation funds so any sale or change in its use requires approval from Idaho Department of Parks and the National Park Service, plus the county would have to replace the park and its uses.

In addition to the conditions on Lady Bird Park, the existing Expo Idaho buildings, the Hawks’ lease on Memorial Stadium and a lease until 2048 on the skyride at the fairgrounds all present significant obstacles to changing these current uses.

Three future options

At the Jan. 28 meeting, citizens advisory committee co-chair Andrea Fogleman explained: “We used a 14-step methodology to get our recommendations.” She added, “the public comments were diverse … because of COVID-19, we had to conduct phone interviews for (consultations with) key informants (and stakeholders).”

“We had a lot of deliberation,” explained co-chair Ed Lodge. “We narrowed our focus to three possible directions … each scenario can stand alone.” He also noted that all or some of the scenarios could also be combined as the county saw fit: “There are lots of ‘ands’ instead of there being just ‘ors.'”

The committee’s first option is an agricultural and outdoor education campus “focused on the needs of Ada County citizens,” remarked committee member Allen Taggart, who is also the county’s 4-H educator. This scenario would preserve the county fair format but would also add space for resident agricultural activities throughout the year like student livestock projects and food-to-table programs. This scenario also includes a vision of enhancing the outdoor space, especially along the river. “Having this open space in the middle of Garden City and Boise is quite amazing … once it’s gone, it’s gone forever,” remarked Marie Kellner, a committee member from the Idaho Conservation League.

The second option for the site is a sports and recreation complex. As Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce and committee member Bill Connors noted, this use could include a sports stadium. It could also add a dual use for exhibition buildings for conventions. He added: “There’s space to bring in sports conventions — there’s a need for this.” Committee member Ian Malepeai, from Idaho Fish and Game, explained that the horse track could be repurposed for outdoor recreation use and open-space preservation. The pond in the middle of the track could become a community fishing pond.

The third option is for a mixed-use town center complex that would use up to 80 acres of the property. This scenario considers creating a replacement for Lady Bird Park away from the intersection of two busy city streets at the southwest corner of the site. The corner would form the core of the mixed-use area, which could provide sorely-needed office space for Ada County, some form of housing, shops and business offices and a logical transition from the surrounding urban area bordering the site to the community-oriented uses of the property’s interior. “It would create a synergy between the town center and the … rest of the complex,” said committee member and City of Eagle planner Nichoel Baird Spencer.

Regardless of the ultimate choices made for the property, the committee members agreed that the site should always incorporate a handful of core uses including natural open spaces and the Greenbelt; the Expo Idaho complex; Lady Bird Park or its equivalent; paths, roads and parking; plus buildings for events, sports, education and other mixed uses. The committee also agreed that the site could also include additional ancillary uses such as county offices and other government services, an RV park and the fairground.

The road forward

The county commissioners thanked the committee for its year-long effort. “You’re making it easier for the commissioners by giving us three great options to consider,” said District 1 commissioner Ryan Davidson. District 3 commissioner Kendra Kenyon remarked: “You took a challenge and turned it into an opportunity.”

The county’s next steps include “robust outreach to Ada County residents and a fiscal impact study on the proposed recommendations,” according to Brianna Bustos, the communications and outreach coordinator for Ada County Development Services. “We hope to continue to see the community be engaged in creating a beautiful community gathering area that can be enjoyed by all Ada County residents,” Bustos remarked.