ALPENA COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — The future of the Alpena County Fairgrounds is in the spotlight after county commissioners approved a proposal from Blackwaters LLC to build a large entertainment complex at the site, but with one big contingency.
The Alpena County fair society said the approval from the county is contingent on a lease agreement between the fair board and Blackwaters.
Even though the county owns the property, there is a deed saying the board has control of much of the site, one week a year to hold the fair.
The board has concerns and at a packed meeting Tuesday night the fair society voted on whether to continue those negotiations.
“This is one of the last things we have that’s pure that we can hand down to our kids,” said an Alpena County resident.
The Alpena County Eleventh Avenue Fairgrounds is something many folks at the meeting on Tuesday said is a staple in the area.
“The long-term vision Blackwater has is to create a permanent cultural landmark,” said an Alpena County resident. “If I’m not mistaken, we already have a permanent cultural landmark in our fairgrounds.”
That staple could soon get a new look.
County administrator Jesse Osmer said on March 24 that Blackwaters presented ideas in a closed session for a large entertainment complex. The meeting was behind closed doors, so Blackwater’s competition did not see the plans.
On April 14, the ideas were presented to the public and approved by the county three days later.
“I take longer to pick out a fridge than the dates and timeline they have shown,” said an Alpena County resident.
The Blackwater proposal would include a festival stage, suites and clean-up as well as upgrades of the current site. The latter being something commissioners say is needed.
“I don’t want to lose Blackwaters,” said Brenda Fournier, Alpena County commissioner. “For the simple reason being, we don’t have the money to fix the fairgrounds up.”
Blackwaters said it hopes to host festivals, large concerts and special events.
At a meeting last week, the Alpena County Tourism Bureau questioned whether it’s something the county can manage.
“This proposal concentrates demand at a scale Alpena citizens never managed,” said Alpena Tourism CEO Mary Beth Stutzman. “This proposal suggests bringing in up to half to 65,000 people at once. This is not incremental growth. This is a population surge larger than our entire county.”
Some locals are questioning if it’s something they want.
“I’m from Alpena. Oh, you’re so far from everything. Well, you know what we kind of are, but we like it that way,” said Alpena County resident.
On March 31, Blackwaters proposed to begin negotiations with the Alpena County fair society’s board after the board signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The initial signed proposal deadline ended up being the very next day.
“I hate bullies,” said an Alpena County resident. “I hate that. It’s something that bothers me to my core and I will stand up for the little guy time and time again. This contract feels like we’re being bullied.”
The fair board said it received a lease agreement proposal on April 13 that was deemed unacceptable, choosing to decline it.
It was then given another by Blackwaters on April 16 with the expectation of approval the next day.
Commissioner Fournier floated the idea of breaking its contract with the fair board if a decision isn’t made soon.
“We can break it now and we’ll give them 90 days,” said Fournier. “We have a very good contract written out. You could help them tremendously. Apparently, they don’t want any help.”
The fair board still ended up having some remaining concerns. This included Blackwaters having exclusive control of its large number of improvements.
“There’s gonna be no space to even do events in the future,” said Corey Standen, Alpena County fair society vice president. “There’s no way.”
The fair society would have to move most items, including the Alpena County 4-H Property, at the end of the fair.
“4-H is not just one week a year. It is 365 days a year,” said an Alpena County resident.
Blackwaters said that what doesn’t have to be moved it would get to use.
After more than an hour of public comment on Tuesday, the fair society voted to end its negotiations with Blackwaters.
“This community stood beside us,” said Courtney Tauriainen, Alpena County fair society president. “When it would’ve been easier to walk away, you leaned in. Rest assured, no matter what happens, we will still have an Alpena County Fair.”
The fair board said it will now consult with legal counsel to determine contractual rights and next steps with the 2026 fair.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source upnorthlive.com ’
