Today I read in the paper that the hagerstown city council will vote soon on whether to approve funding for yet another project at Fairgrounds park. This time its not for landscaping. The project consists of the renovation of the Grandstand roof, rails, interior/exterior, etc. The cost is around $185,000 or more if I recall. The city council suggested using the big grandstand which can seat about 20,000 as a music or entertainment venue in the summer. Bands and groups could perform. So what do you think? Its nice to see it becoming of good use, but I'm not so sure the intent of the renovation will happen. On the other hand, the park has helped raise the property values in and around that section of hagerstown. Nice to see the Ice and Sports complex open back up again at Fairgrounds Park, (the city council better not mess with it again, now the complex is in good hands with a respectable organization) Just hope the council isn't making a bad choice.

They should've done this renovation years ago. I've always said that they could use it for concerts. Looks like someone is actually THINKING for once.

Nice venue for concerts, but once built do you think Penny would approve of that use for it? Doesn't she live not far from there?

Yep, on Mulberry street

This should have been done years ago so the park could bring in some revenue. This would be a great place all kinds of outside performances.

Yeah...like moving Downtown Live over there.

Actually the grandstands can only seat about 2,000 people. But, I am in talks with a promoter who has plans for a mobile stage that can be broken down and stored under the grandstands. This would give us the ability to put about 20,000 people on the fairgrounds for a concert, between grandstand seating and lawn seating.
The goal is to attract big name acts so we can fill the park with people, charge a minimal amount per ticket and make a profit, along with the promoter of course.
Parking is always the biggest handicap for any event in Hagerstown.
But, when we have the fireworks, we see about 10,000 to 15,000 people on the fairgrounds lawn. Somehow they find parking.
Having a shuttle from the old Ames parking lot and maybe even at the Suns stadium to the fairgrounds will be an option. Even from Longmeadow.
This is in its infancy, so, hopefully it won't be picked apart like every other event or idea that is presented in this stage of the planning process.
Oh yeah, Penny is on board already.

That sound like a Cool Plan

I must confess to not visiting the fairgrounds since... well since it was still "the fairgrounds"! As such I really don't know what's been done there or what facilities and resources are available. I do clearly remember though that the inside of the grandstand building (top floor) was rather large and with upgrading should be suitable to any number of uses. What I don't understand is the concern for parking. As I recall, the place is what, between 50 & 100 acres? Assuming two people per car and taking 8' X 12' spaces and applicable isles into consideration it shouldn't take more than 35 acres to park 10,000 cars.
Now of course for less than "regular" events this parking does not have to be on paved surfaces. I doubt there were ever 20,000 people there at a time but I clearly remember hundreds - maybe thousands - of cars parked on the grass of the fairgrounds during the fair. That would actually make this one of the few places in Hagerstown proper where such large events could be handled without undue stress on existing infrastructure and daily business.
Maybe I'm missing something but I just don't understand the concern. This is a prime location for such events and activities as cause such discord downtown. By all means develop it into the venue that's desperately needed!

Nearly all the acreage at the park is covered with fields, courts, or the bmx track. Most of those fields are fenced in with no way of converting them to parking for a big event.

Well, that would explain it! Someone mentioned in another post about local government's penchant for proceeding piecemeal on projects without a clear "business plan." Here's a perfect example! To bad, it'd been a great venue if we'd had the forethought to reserve enough parking spaces. As this idea has the potential to be a real money maker with outdoor entertainment and indoor shops and vendors, will anybody have the testicular fortitude to suggest we turn some of those ballfields back into parking spaces? I doubt it.

The soccer field (or is it fields) are open and unfenced, but I imagine that's where the non-grandstand seating would be.

Wait a second, no reason to write it off. There are many parking places at the park, at the ice rink, in the neighborhoods, Army reserve building, the baseball field on Jefferson, Pangborn, and as the Mayor mentioned at Suns stadium and Ames parking lot. I think that parking would be easy to fix. The noise level I could see being a much bigger issue.

i remember i used to go over to the race track when the horses ran, there were a lot of people there then, you build it they will come , put some slots there,

Aldo, I guess you missed the part in my post about the fireworks at the Fairgrounds on July 4th. There are at least 10,000 plus at this event. Give me a break, unfortunately in this community if you don't at least start a project or "plan", nothing gets accomplished. Sorry that you haven't been by the Fairgrounds since the late 80's. I grew up on Fairground Ave. so I remember the Great Hagerstown Fair with fond memories. But, alas, those days are gone, like sands in an hour glass. (sniff, sniff) Let's wait until we have a plan before we begin picking it apart. Oh, just so you are informed correctly, we do shuttle people from the Ames lot to the Fairgrounds for July 4th.

I see no reason why this wouldn't work. As for the noise, if the downtown residents can be disturbed by concerts without a second thought, why not the east end folks?

For what it's worth, I think the renovation of the fairgrounds has been outstanding. It is one of the real prizes in Hagerstown. The soccer fields accommodate both the HAYSL and YMCA leagues in the spring and fall. The softball fields are always utilized, and now they are in the process of putting lights in for these fields. The BMX course is there to fill that niche too without taking up too much space. The walking/jogging paths are great and there are two areas of nice playgound equipment. It's generally a great place for families to go. As the mayor pointed out, it has definitely become the best place in the area to watch the fireworks on the 4th - a first rate event.

Fixing up the grandstand would just add more to this facility. Before the fairgounds were fixed the way they are today, there used to be concerts there. It was probably about 12-15 years ago, but the Beach Boys were there and later George Thorogood and others. Tickets were cheap - about $10. The noise aspect is defintely a concern though for the close neighbors. You could have probably heard Thorogood all the way to the Long Meadow Shopping Center that night - I still don't think I got my hearing back from that one.

Anyway, hopefully the city will get a clear plan in place to modify the grandstand for the maximum use that it can. It certainly has great potential, and it would be a shame if it was developed as something one-dimensional as the ice rink. That facility definitely shuold have had a solid floor put down so that it could have been used for other purposes than skating (note how Frederick and others make a mint off of indoor soccer with their facilities). Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the ice rink plans were driven by one person who wanted the facility to be a totally dedicated faclity for ice skating (the guy from First Data - his name escapes me). He drove this project on false projections, and now the city ends up subsidizing this when, if it had been developed properly, it could have been actually profitable today.

So mayor, you have done a great job with the fairgrounds so far. Make the grandstand into a multi-use facility to compliment what you already have in place, and make it into something that can be used year round in some way, shape or form. Keep up the good work.

Yea the City gets a B- for what has happened at the Fairgrounds thus far. They would have received an A+ if they would actually utilize the weight room more effectively and not just be used by the PAL directors and Penny's exercise class. This is a terrible waste of an oppurtunity for many kids and adults. The other waste of money was the inline skating rink. I know the City did not pay for it but wow couldn't the State money went to something better. Another example of oversight of Non profit groups needed.

This isn't really a build it and they will come issue here. The Fairgrounds has been a place for the last few years to hold the 4th of July Fireworks event when it seems like almost half of hagerstown is there. (course I'm exaggerating) but thousands show up to see our tax dollars go up in flames. (fireworks)

Now to the issue of parking at the old Ames parking lot. Uh hello, but its not the old Ames parking lot any more, three new store retail areas have replaced the entire Ames store: Aldies, Home Furniture Direct, and Equiped for life plus the other stores in that area that need their parking for their customers. We can't just take those spaces away from those stores. The old shopping center has been renovated with new stores since Ames left.

I don't live in the city, pay no taxes there and try to avoid it most of the time, not for any good reason but rather that there simply is little there that interests me. No offense to those of you who are residents, etc. it's merely an issue of personal tastes and interests. Neither I nor any family members play ball or ice skate and as for the desire to walk/hike I need only walk out my back door.
That said, I intended no offense in my previous statement regarding lack of planning. I really don't know what planning was or wasn't done. Maybe this WAS the plan. Again, I don't pay much attention to city doings but as this park has used a considerable amount of State tax money I do none the less feel I have some vested interest. The point is however that there is still a gem to be polished in the grandstand facility, both the seating area (and associated stage/infield area) and the indoor areas under it. While the grandstand proper could be a unique facility for concerts, shows and other outdoor-type entertainment, the indoor areas could conceivably be developed into shops, restaurants, vendors, etc. both to support the outdoor facility or even as stand alone businesses in a mall-type setting much as the shops at Baltimore's inner harbor.
Is the former Pangborn parking lot(s) available? If so it'd seem this adjacent lot would make a lot more sense than busing folks in from the dual, particularly as changeisgood mentions that shopping center is (apparently) being revitalized and will need it's own lot. What of the stable area to the rear of the N. Mulberry properties? Is this already in use?
Whatever the plan (existing or future) I wish the city well. As someone else said, this is one of the city's prizes!

Man, Aldo, you really don't get into H-town much. The Pangborn lot now has about 50 townhouses wedged on it. Stables were still there last time I looked.

Yes, the stables have been repainted. In fact, I helped to do that job as a community service project.

No I really don't. I do seem to recall seeing the houses on part of the Pangborn lot though. Is it completely taken up? That was a HUGE parking lot. I'm guessing 10 or 12 acres, worse yet I can remember when at least 1/2 of it was full of employee cars! That's why it was so big, to enable one shift to park while the previous shift was still working.

Back to the fairgrounds park parking thing... I don't know how old the photo is or if something has taken place there but Google Earth still shows a lot of green in the SW corner. This would be in the part bounded by Cannon Ave., Jefferson Blvd. and Security Rd. As I recall that's also where most of the old fair parking was. That same GE view of the area only shows a row of homes on the front edge of the old Pangborn parking lot. But as I said, I don't know how current the shot is.

Community service or work release?




just kidding with ya changisgood!

Some of the lots that were mentioned are not as large as they once were and some are in use. However, At the Ames parking lot there is at least 100 + spots open at all time and even more in the evening when most of those stores are closed. As for Pangborn, the large lot is now homes but what about all around Pangborn Park, at least 100 spots there as well. 2 people per car there is 400 folks. With parking at the ice rink and in the grass at the ice rink 100 spots, the Army Reserve building 40 spots, the baseball field on Jefferson Blvd 60+ spots, and Clarion's lot on the side (the section of the hotel that should be taken down) at least 50+ spots. This is not counting the 100's of spaces on the streets in all directions from the fairgrounds and the lots at the fairgrounds. It is also not counting that the fairgrounds is within 1-2 miles of North Hagerstown High school and all 3 parking lots in Downtown.

Counting on street parking for special events is a little unfair to the residents in that area that depend on a spot to park in when they come home from work or from whereever they've been.

Maybe this isn't an issue, but I'd be pizzed if I came home and couldn't find a place to park within several hundred feet of my home.

agreed. but I remember when I was a kid running around the East End, that all those houses have alleys behind them, and back then alot of people would park in the back of their houses and their guests would use the spots out front. Don't know if they still do that or not. haven't been back there since the house I grew up in was torn down. It's been a long time.

Yoss- completely agree that I would be pizzed as well but I am thinking of Cumberland where Greenway Avenue Stadium is. During the Allegany - Fort Hill game 10,000-12,000 go to the game and they have parking for about 1000 cars. So everyone parks in the street and it never seems to be a problem. I also know that on the street that I live on when everyone is home there is at least 25 extra spots up and down. I am only about 3 blocks from the fairgrounds.

OMG, I don't care if we have to bus them in from the Hotels located in the City. I am sure that we will find a solution to the parking issue for the thousands who would attend. As far as the Old Ames Lot, I call it that because that is what is the most familiar to me in MY lifetime. Geeesh!

sorry, I have the Bah humbug blues lately.

Heck I still wanna call it the Zayre lot sometimes!

I've been to a concert at the Fairgrounds, and would go again to see the right acts (some rock and roll for God's sake, since the Md. Theatre thinks there is no need for it).

Saw Sawyer Brown there, great concert.

Mr. Mayor, First of all I want to thank you on heading up this project of the grandstand rehabilitation. Its a great idea in my opinion now that I've thought it all out. This is just a suggestion, but do you suppose when the whole 4th of July event with the fireworks, vendors, food, etc, there could be a concert with bands starting at 12:00 noon time on the 4th of July which would lead up to the fireworks that night and so on. What do you think? T think it would be a huge hit around here (as it already is) for the 4th of July. The only aspect I'm adding is good bands/singers performing the whole day leading up to the fireworks. Also, is the is project a go? Or does the council still have to vote on it?

I second that idea, it's what Frederick does in Baker Park on the 4th. They always get a fantastic crowd.

It always needs voted on. One of the drawbacks I'm sure will be that when we begin to have concerts there will likely be the availability of alcohol sales. Soooooooooooooo, no one knows how that will go over.
We do have a band that plays on the 4th beginning around 6:00 PM and lasting until we set the fireworks off. But, I know what you are saying. The challenge with that will be that it will be a 9 hour event. Some folks won't like that.

Not in July. That's one thing I like about Downtown Live being in October.

C'mon Coma, at least you'd have beer to drink

Isn't that all that matters anymore?

There won't be any beer if Penny has anything to say about it.

people can bring their own, its none on Penny's business who brings beer or if its at the event. She's not the Hagerstown President or Judge. Penny's got no beef on the event.

Hagerstown airport runway extension open
Officials celebrate completion of $61.8 million project

By JOSHUA BOWMAN joshua.bowman@herald-mail.com

WASHINGTON COUNTY — Hagerstown Regional Airport’s slogan is “Ready for the Future,” but the theme of Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the airport’s new runway extension could have been “Acknowledging the Past.”

Almost all of the event’s 15 speakers thanked the dozens of former local and state officials who they said made the new 7,000-foot runway possible.

“It’s an honor to have all of them here,” said Airport Manager Carolyn S. Motz. “So many people were a part of this.”

Three Maryland governors and three boards of Washington County Commissioners have presided since the runway project began in 1999.

U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., said many of those officials “checked their parties at the door” to finish the $61.8 million project, which she said will spur economic development in the county.

But before offering congratulations, Mikulski brought up a topic that few of the other speakers at the ceremony wanted to mention — the fact that Hagerstown Regional Airport has not had passenger service since September.

“If each one of us came here in an airplane, we wouldn’t need EAS,” joked Mikulski, referring to Essential Air Service, the federal subsidy program that had funded commercial service at the airport for years.

The new runway will allow the airport to accommodate fully loaded regional jets, which could fly as far away as Honolulu or Istanbul, Turkey without refueling, Motz said.

That ability, airport officials have argued, will make it easier for the airport to find a commercial carrier to replace Air Midwest, which left in September when the federal subsidy expired.

Mikulski and U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., have pushed a series of bills through Congress in an attempt to revive the subsidy. The latest bill, which would extend the subsidy through September 2008, is being finalized in Congress.

“With this new runway we’re going to be able to do so many things, and we plan to fully take advantage of all opportunities,” Motz said before the ceremony.

Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said after his speech that the state can help bring commercial service back to Hagerstown by offering “financial incentives to the right carrier.”

Neither official, however, elaborated on what plans might be in the works to bring a commercial carrier to the airport.

Instead, most speakers chose to focus on the benefits the runway will bring to local businesses, which now can fly more cargo to and from the airport.

Hal Lucas of Sierra Nevada, which does military contract work, said the company has expanded its local workforce by the hundreds in anticipation of the new runway.

Bill Hetzer, who runs C. William Hetzer, Inc., which won a contract to do much of the runway work, said the expansion has reinvested millions of local tax dollars into the local economy.

Wayne Alter, chairman of the county’s Airport Commission, acknowledged that there has been public criticism of the project, especially since the airport lost its carrier. But he compared the project’s opponents to people who argued against building the intersection of I-81 and I-70 in Hagerstown.

“There was furious opposition to that project then, and today we’re talking about widening both roads,” Alter said. “I think we’ll see the same thing here.”

The City Council will have to vote on allowing alcoholic beverages at the Fairgrounds, so Penny will have her say.

Sure, she will have her usual "No" say on issues like this, but mostly it doesn't meat squat since the majority of the council votes yes.

I may get shot for this but Oh Well

Why do we have to have alcohol at these events?
Why is that a must thing to have at these events?

If you have to be drinking to enjoy the event, I think that's pretty sad.

Yes, I do drink once in a great while. I'm just wondering is all.
I really don't care either way, whether they do or don't. Each to their own.

I don't live to far from the Fairground Park myself. There's no alley way behind my house, thank goodness.
I won't have a hard time parking since I have a little driveway.

your 100% correct. There is no law that says there has to be beer at a good event to make it special. I myself don't drink, its just not something I do. It can be dangerous if people consume more than they should, (my grandfather is a testament to that)