Hotel Plan at Fairgrounds In LG Being Considered

The City of La Grange has been in talks with the various groups associated with the Fayette County Fairgrounds about a new master plan for the property. One idea floating around involves attracting a hotel or convention center to the Fairgrounds.

“It’s in its infancy,” said La Grange City Manager Jack Thompson. “We’ve just started having talks about what the future of the Fairgrounds looks like.”

Thompson said the City wants to collaborate with Fayette County Fair Association, the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, the veterans groups that use the La Grange VFW Hall, and the groups that use the ball fields at the Fairgrounds. He said the City wants to conduct a master plan for the Fairgrounds in an effort to better utilize the City’s sprawling acreage that overlooks the Colorado River Valley.

“It really comes down to this: where do we want to take the Fairgrounds, as all the entities combined,” Thompson said. “It’s a total community effort between all entities involved out there.

“The one thing I want to emphasize is it would be a joint venture deal with all the entities up there,” he added. “Everybody’s at the table, and everybody has a voice on that. I think that’s really important.”

Thompson said a hotel at the Fairgrounds could benefit all the entities associated with the property, along with the community as a whole.

“We haven’t had a hotel approach us about that,” Thompson said. “But you know, that’s always something that could help, especially as we forecast out that property. That could be an option down the road. It lends itself to that because of all the events we do. I think something like that could be successful.”

Fayette County Fair Association President Michael Zuhn said he has spoken several times with Thompson and other City leaders about the master plan. Zuhn said the topic of a hotel has come up during those talks. And he has questions about where a hotel could be located on the property and how it would affect the layout of the County Fair. However, Zuhn expressed interest in the idea.

“Can I see it as a benefit for the Fair? Probably so,” Zuhn said. “You’d have people that can come to the Fair or entertainers who can stay right on the grounds without having to leave. There’s been talk about this convention center, too. If a hotel firm would come out there and put a convention center there, that could be utilized for the Fair, too.

“There are weekends when all the hotels in town are filled to the max, Zuhn said. “Fair Weekend is one of them. The MS-150 and both of the antique festivals pretty much fill up the hotels as well.”

Zuhn said the Fair Association may even contribute some funding to the Fairgrounds master plan.

“What do we get in return? We’ll get a seat at the table,” Zuhn said. “We’re going to give some input. I don’t know if we’ll get the final say, but if we think something is not going to be good for our Fairgrounds, we can voice our opinion.”

John Bartos, president of the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center (TCHCC), said his organization is currently conducting their own facilities master plan. Bartos said he shared his organization’s future facility plans with the City. Bartos said building a hotel on the property used by various organizations with different missions presents challenges and opportunities.

“I’d be happy to see that up there, but it comes down to space,” he said. “We have our own needs for space. The Fair has their needs for space. Trying to fit that in up there may be a challenge.”

Bartos said it has been a challenge for TCHCC to hold events while other major gatherings are taking place in the county, such as the Antiques Shows in Round Top and Warrenton.

“If we have an event and people want to come to town for it, they can’t get rooms because they’re filled up from the antiques shows,” he said.

Bartos said he’s had a few casual conversations with Thompson about the master plan, along with two formal discussions.

“I know he’s trying to balance everybody’s interests,” Bartos said. “It’s a challenge, and it’s something I know he’s working pretty hard to figure out.”

Richard Gray, commander of the La Grange VFW and American Legion posts, said he is aware of the master plan discussions. But so far, he has not spoken with any City officials about it. The City of La Grange owns the La Grange VFW Hall, which is located on the Fairgrounds. The City purchased the building from the VFW post several years ago. As part of the purchase terms, the City signed an agreement with the local veterans groups for maintenance and use of the hall. Gray said 40 years remain on that agreement.

“We have the lease agreement, so we’re linked into whatever decision they want to make,” Gray said. “Our membership is fine with relocating, but we’d like to be part of that discussion.”

However, Gray had reservations about whether a hotel and convention center is the best use for property at the Fairgrounds.

“I think it’s a little over the top for what people would support here,” Gray said. “I bet dollars to donuts that if he were to invest in a nice rodeo arena, where we could have a world-class rodeo event, it would be a far better draw and get a lot more support.”