Lebanon Area Fair Chairman Dan Siegel braves some of the deteriorated bleachers at Lebanon Valley Expo Center’s track.

This two-lane main entrance into the Lebanon Valley Expo Center from Rocherty Road is a tight fit, especially during Lebanon Area Fair week and other Expo Center activities that generate high traffic volumes.

The Lebanon Valley Expo Center will use a $528,000 American Rescue Plan Act grant to resurface its aging asphalt parking areas and pave other areas like this gravel lot on the east side of the expo’s North Hall and adjacent barns.

Lebanon Area Fair Chairman Dan Siegel braves some of the deteriorated bleachers at Lebanon Valley Expo Center’s track.

LEBANON, Pa. — If you headed to the Lebanon Valley Expo Center for the 2022 Lebanon Area Fair last month on any evening during its eight-day run, chances are you eventually wound up at the track.

Each year, fairgoers flock to its grandstands to watch crowd-pleasing attractions like 4x4 truck and semi pulls, farm stock and garden tractor pulls, and its biggest attraction, the PPL East Coast Super Stock Tractor and Truck Pulls.

Other big draws at the track include the Arena Tough Trucks competition along with the fair’s traditional closing night demolition derby and fireworks. The county firemen’s competition, a rodeo, pie eating and bologna throwing contests, plus Farmer’s Night activities, are also held there.

The Lebanon Valley Expo Center hosts a half-dozen additional non-fair events at its track during the year.

Yet, for all its popularity, the track is not an ideal facility. Its oldest bleachers no longer meet safety codes, there’s a lack of accessible seating for people with disabilities, and sometimes the grandstand’s seating capacity of 6,000 isn’t sufficient for all the would-be spectators.

Added to that, the track’s outdated lighting detracts from the safety of both spectators and participants.

The Lebanon Valley Expo Center will use a $528,000 American Rescue Plan Act grant to resurface its aging asphalt parking areas and pave other areas like this gravel lot on the east side of the expo’s North Hall and adjacent barns.

The expo center’s track area was clearly in need of upgrades. Its aging asphalt parking lot was also showing wear and tear, while gravel-covered areas require paving to make them more functional.

With this array of big-ticket items on the agenda, Patrick Kerwin, executive director of the Lebanon Valley Exposition Corp., the expo center’s board of directors and the Lebanon Area Fair board had tough decisions to make. It appeared these capital improvements would have to be done piecemeal over a number of years, budget permitting.

Fortunately, the expo center and the fair have a strong relationship with Lebanon County’s Board of Commissioners. It was this synergy which facilitated an unanticipated funding stream for accomplishing the needed renovations in a timelier manner.

When $7.3 billion in federal funding under the COVID-19-related American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 came Pennsylvania’s way, the commonwealth designated $6.15 billion for its counties and municipalities. Lebanon County was awarded a $27 million grant.

After representatives attended Lebanon County’s application workshop, the expo center and the fair approached the commissioners with their concepts for improvements that would benefit the fair, the expo’s tourism outreach and the local economy.

The commissioners expressed openness to these possibilities. Within a month, the expo and the fair had obtained firm cost estimates and returned to the commissioners with their funding needs.

The Lebanon Area Fair submitted its request totaling $950,000, which includes $465,000 for adding 2,500 seats to the track area, upgrading remaining wooden bleachers to aluminum, assuring all existing seating is code compliant, and adding handicapped accessible seating.

The proposed figure included a $275,000 upgrade to replace existing light poles between the grandstand and track with pole-mounted LED fixtures. Kerwin said this upgrade will not only improve safety, but will also provide more energy-efficient lighting without the need for increasing the facility’s electrical service.

Additional improvements amounting to $150,000 include construction of a concrete pad for the new bleachers, landscaping and widening the track for enhanced participant safety. There is also a $50,000 contingency fund.

The Lebanon Valley Expo Center put in its separate request for $650,000 in grant money, which includes $528,000 for repaving the facility’s existing asphalt parking lot, and paving some current gravel-covered areas.

This two-lane main entrance into the Lebanon Valley Expo Center from Rocherty Road is a tight fit, especially during Lebanon Area Fair week and other Expo Center activities that generate high traffic volumes.

Proposed $100,000 in improvements to the expo’s main entrance would encompass widening that access point and addressing drainage issues along with sewer line modifications; however, those upgrades would require Pennsylvania Department of Transportation approval. An additional $22,000 was budgeted for contingencies.

During their July 21 meeting, the three county commissioners unanimously approved the funding requests. Their action came just two days before the Lebanon Area Fair’s July 23 opening.

“We’re extremely budget-conscious at the fair, and you need to be, but some components are now over 40 years old. You grow with the times,” said Daniel Siegel, chairman of the fair board.

The big question now is when the funds will become available for use, which dictates when construction on the planned improvements can proceed.

While the funds must be expended by the end of 2024, Kerwin hopes the planned work can be completed for the July 2023 Lebanon Area Fair. He’s also optimistic that the construction will minimally affect the many other users of Expo Center facilities throughout the year.

The nonprofit Lebanon Valley Exposition Corp. was formed in 1969 when a group of local 4-H leaders, farmers and businessmen combined efforts to establish a permanent home for the Lebanon Area Fair, which had relocated several times since its 1957 founding.

The 1970 fair was held at its new home at 80 Rocherty Road, Lebanon, in 400 linear feet of tenting, with a partially completed refreshment stand being the only permanent structure.

Through the years, the grounds of the Lebanon Valley Expo Center have come to include its current eight indoor rental spaces totaling 75,000 square feet, a 26,500-square-foot barn and attached livestock arena, three pole barns, two horse rings, three refreshment stands, a pavilion and the track area with bleacher seating.

Kerwin estimates that, aside from the annual Lebanon Area Fair, the expo center hosts 200 to 250 activities per year, ranging from small groups of 4-Hers to large banquets, conferences, auctions and consumer shows.

He foresees the upcoming track and parking improvements attracting more opportunities for the facility’s use.

The development of a mixed-use commercial and residential area across Rocherty Road from the expo center has brought a hotel and eateries to the immediate area, and along with it, the expansion of tourism opportunities.

Though the Lebanon Area Fair’s poultry barn is lacking its usual clucking, quacking and squawking, the show is still going on, and raising money for a good cause.

Lebanon Solar has filed an appeal to overturn North Annville Township's denial of the conditional use application to build an 858-acre solar farm.

Sue Bowman is a freelance writer in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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