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Champions Park in Clark County to get $3M ‘facelift’

CLARK COUNTY — Champions Park in Clark County is being renovated for an estimated $3 million over the next four years.

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The park, that hosts the Clark County Fair each July, will receive a new entrance with upgraded gates, fencing, landscaping, a pedestrian drop-off location, a new fair office, and space for development of limited hotel, restaurant and retail uses, according to a release from Public Information Officer, Michael Cooper.

The Board of Clark County Commissioners and the Clark County Agricultural Society are working together on the upgrades that also include a retention pond designed to improve drainage and fix flooding issues.

“This is a win-win for us as we think about the future of the fair and how we can improve upon our capital investments to make Champions Park a real asset for events year-round,” said Clark County Agricultural Society President Brian Harbage.

The plans also include a pending sale site of a total of 14.8 acres of 144.8 total acres that will provide the opportunity to develop hotel and retail along Ohio 41.

Proceeds will be invested into the gateway and fairgrounds once the county closes on the sale of the land.

Fairgrounds camping and parking areas are to remain in place.

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“Champions Park is such a special place for so many of us who grew up here and showed livestock and other projects at the Clark County Fair, so there’s no better place from which to draw energy to enhance our community,” said Clark County Commission President Melanie Flax Wilt. In addition to that, we welcome tens of thousands of visitors to Champions Park throughout the year for antique shows, swap meets, gun shows and boat races, and if we can provide more opportunities for them to stay and spend right here, that boosts our local economy.”

The park’s current headquarters will be replaced at a location to be determined.

“The fairgrounds are a very visible location that shows Clark County to the rest of the world,” said Clark County Fair Manager Dean Blair. “We want to be the place people connect with when they see us from the interstate, and want to return time and again for the best events and experiences.”

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