March 13, 2009

Fair Land For Sale

The Alaska State Fair board of directors is currently analyzing whether or not to accept a proposal from Northern Industrial Training (NIT), an Alaska-owned vocational training provider, to purchase 40-acres of land from the Fair. If the sale is finalized, NIT plans to build a job skills training center, complete with classrooms, a shop, offices, dorms and a cafeteria.

“Most of the terms have been negotiated and we are currently in the process of developing legal documents, which assures the long-term and short-term interests of the Fair,” said Ray Ritari, Fair manager. 

NIT offers more than 100 courses in topics including professional truck driving, heavy equipment, construction building trades, oil and gas pipeline, hazardous materials, and mine safety training. NIT currently has offices in Palmer, training areas at the Fairgrounds, and a shop in the Big Lake area. Adam Crum, NIT’s vice president of project development, said the proposed training center would allow NIT to centralize all of its facilities.

According to the site master plan and initial design completed by Architects Alaska, the training center would include a 20,000-square-foot shop, a 16,000-square-foot office building, dormitory facilities to house up to 80 students, a cafeteria and classrooms. The grounds would also feature open, green areas and be lined with trees that would act as a windbreak and provide privacy for all parties.

“We want to make it like a college campus that looks fantastic and brings pride to the community,” said Crum, who added that an emphasis is placed on designing a building that is attractive, energy-efficient and constructed with environmentally friendly building materials.    

The proposal involves a 40-acre parcel of land that was formerly part of the Hamilton Farm. According to Ritari, the Fair originally purchased the land to secure a buffer between the Fairgrounds and surrounding housing developments. The land, which is located across Inner Springer Loop from the Fairgrounds, is currently used for overflow parking during Fair-time, although it is not an ideal parking area due to safety concerns. Ritari said the Fair would still have access to the campus for parking, as needed, until a better parking alternative was developed.

Ritari added that the Fair planned to sell the 40-acre parcel at some point in the future, which would provide the Fair with funding to re-purchase a parcel of land from Alaska Demolition, once that land becomes available. The Alaska Demolition land, located on the corner of Rebarchek Road and Inner Springer Loop, offers more direct access to the Fairgrounds for parking, as well as fewer safety concerns for fairgoers.

NIT selected the Fair land for the training center site in part due to its convenient location, as well as due to NIT’s long-standing relationship with the Fair. For years, NIT has utilized the Fair parking lots as a truck range to train students in truck driving. The location of the new training center would allow NIT to continue using the existing truck range, rather than constructing a new one.

In addition to utilizing the truck range, NIT also takes advantage of projects on the Fairgrounds to help train students. Over the years, NIT has taken on projects, such as enhancing Fair parking lots, the baseball field and the Borealis Theatre, saving the Fair between $20,000 and $80,000 in labor each year.

Through the land purchase and the subsequent construction of the training center, the Fair stands to benefit even more from the partnership with NIT, by receiving ongoing services in the areas of grounds development, electrical, plumbing, carpentry and food services.

“The Fair is growing and its infrastructure is aging. There’s a need for new parking areas. Buildings need to be repaired or replaced. We offer a low-cost alternative, and our students get training opportunities. It helps all parties,” Crum said.

“It is quite clear that the long-term financial impact of these services will far exceed the cash value of the land,” Ritari said. “We estimate the value of labor and other services will, over the course of time, provide over $5 million in value to the Fair. We are not aware of any other source for that level of revenue and ongoing value.”

The Palmer community would also reap the benefits of the new facility. A recent economic impact study completed for the project indicated that the training center would bring an estimated $3 million per year into the Palmer area. In the short-term, NIT expects to hire approximately 50 local contractors for construction. In the long-term, NIT, which currently employs 20 people, estimates it would need to hire an additional 30 permanent employees, including maintenance workers, security staff, housekeepers and cooks.

“With the economy, more money is going to be put into education,” Crum said. “You have to have educated people to create jobs. Something like this is beneficial for everyone.”

Crum said NIT is ready to move forward on the project, pending approval of the sale. Depending on the timing of the land agreement, NIT could break ground in as little as one month, and the first set of buildings could be completed by the end of the summer, followed by a second building cycle next year.

For information contact Ray Ritari at 745-4827 or email: info@alaskastatefair.org.