Here's why St. Clair County is buying more property by the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds

Belleville News-Democrat | By Lexi Cortes

Published March 29, 2024 at 5:00 AM CDT

The Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center property is located at 200 South Belt East in Belleville near the intersection of Illinois 159 and Illinois 15.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in the Belleville News-Democrat.

The board that manages St. Clair County-owned buildings voted Tuesday to spend over $90,000 to further expand the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center property in Belleville.

The Public Building Commission agreed to purchase a home at 1132 S. Charles St. in Belleville for $80,000 and a vacant lot at 1138 S. Charles St. in Belleville for $10,000, plus closing costs in each transaction, from individuals.

The individuals have owned the South Charles Street properties for at least the past 25 years, according to county property records.

County buildings director Jim Brede said these properties will help expand parking for events like races at the Belle-Clair Speedway racetrack, which the county is planning to rebuild with federal COVID-related relief funds from the American Rescue Plan.

St. Clair County’s Public Building Commission voted to purchase four pieces of property in 2024 to expand the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center’s footprint in Belleville. The properties are marked in red in this county parcel map. At left is the former Auffenberg used car lot, which includes multiple parcels. The expo center and Belle-Clair Speedway racetrack are in the center.

The property purchases will come out of the Public Building Commission’s budget, according to Brede.

The board has purchased a total of four pieces of property near the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in 2024.

In February, it voted to buy the former Auffenberg used car lot at 1120 S. Illinois St. and a home at 1132 S. Church St. in Belleville for a total of $830,000.

The South Church Street home will also be used to expand parking. The Auffenberg property will become an additional entrance and exit to the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds to help with traffic. The fairgrounds currently has one entrance and exit.

The former Auffenberg used car lot on South Illinois Street will eventually become another entrance and exit to the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center. The county building commission is buying it for $730,000.

The county is in the process of designing renovations for the fairgrounds. It has allocated $14 million of its share of COVID-19 relief dollars toward design, engineering and construction costs, including rebuilding the racetrack and replacing the expo center’s roof and HVAC system.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Public Building Commission approved spending $816,201 toward the HVAC system.

Public Building Commission member Kevin Bouse noted the expo center will remain open during the upcoming renovations.

Lexi Cortes is a reporter with the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.