Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

[March 14th, 2007] What swine is stopping 1,000 costumed performers from bringing medieval feasts, jousting tournaments and an artisan marketplace to the metro area on future summer weekends?

In this case, it's actual swine—and sheep and cows and other farm animals celebrated as part of Washington County's agricultural heritage—that are creating a conflict at the county fairgrounds in Hillsboro.

Organizers of Oregon Renaissance Inc. are trying to negotiate a deal that would bring their medieval fest to the fairgrounds eight weekends each summer, starting in July 2008.

The festival would be a boon to the Portland metro area. Organizers estimate they could draw 10,000 to 15,000 people per day, based on their experiences with two other Renaissance festivals they manage in Arizona and North Carolina.

And it would help Washington County's financially struggling fair complex. The 101-acre, publicly owned fairgrounds loses money annually and receives about $500,000 dollars a year from county tax revenues to support operations.

Festival organizers want a 30-year lease for the use of 25 acres. In exchange, they guarantee the county 5 percent of gross revenues from ticket and food sales, plus $2 million toward capital improvements to the ramshackle grounds. But the festival, which would re-create 17th-century Europe with permanent site alterations, wants to share the site with the annual four-day Washington County Fair.

And that's set up the latest conflict between Washington County's past and its future.

The medieval re-creators draw heavily from high-tech industry employees who have poured into the county over the past 25 years. Traditional backers of the county fair have long fought to preserve the fairgrounds' quaint, country character.

This isn't the first time there's been a battle. After months of protests by fair supporters, the Washington County Board of Commissioners nixed a deal last fall to sell off part of the fairgrounds' 101 acres to Opus Northwest. That deal would have modernized the fairgrounds into a mix of retail and office space, as well as provide a state-of-the-art expo center.

Burned by the public outcry, county commissioners are hesitant to approve the Renaissance deal before it's been thoroughly vetted by a still-unnamed task force, says Don Hillman, executive director of the fair complex.

That delay jeopardizes the deal, which organizers say needs to be finalized soon or they'll go elsewhere. They've already started talks with Linn County officials out of frustration with Washington County, says Oregon Renaissance Inc.'s chief executive officer, Bob Levine.

Lyle Spiesschaert, spokesman for the Fair Boosters, says his volunteer group wants a plan in place to preserve the fairgrounds before they reach any new deals.

"We believe there is a lack of direction," Spiesschaert says. "We don't have a plan for the future.