As of this month, St. Clair County has officially closed on seven real estate purchases totaling $1.3 million to expand the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds property in Belleville and make way for planned renovations like rebuilding the Belle-Clair Speedway racetrack.

The county bought two houses and a vacant lot on Church and Charles Streets, which border the track. It also purchased four commercial properties, including the former Auffenberg used car lot on South Illinois Street and DeVan Automotive Services on Church Street.

The county plans to demolish structures and use most of the land for additional parking for events, including the St. Clair County Fair and Belle-Clair Speedway races, which are expected to restart when renovations are completed in fall 2025.

The purchase of a commercial property at 12 12th St. South will extend the southeast corner of the property, where the county plans to rebuild the track. Moving the track will create a new outdoor event space between it and the expo center.

The county’s biggest investment out of the seven properties, the Auffenberg lot, will be turned into a second entrance to the fairgrounds.

Cost to the county

St. Clair County purchased the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds property at 200 South Belt East with $2.3 million in federal COVID-related relief funds from the American Rescue Plan.

County Buildings Director Jim Brede said that after residents learned about the fairgrounds purchase, some nearby property owners approached the county because they were interested in selling, too.

The $1.3 million in property purchases, including closing costs and real estate fees, came out of the Public Building Commission’s budget, according to Brede. The commission manages county-owned buildings and properties, including the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, St. Clair County Courthouse and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport.

County Board Chairman Mark Kern said the county hasn’t used eminent domain to take any properties around the fairgrounds and won’t do so in the future.

“We have all the real estate acquired that we need to do this,” Kern said of the planned renovations. “If somebody says, ‘I want to stay,’ we’re good.”

The county has allocated $14 million from its share of COVID relief money to the renovations. That will cover the following:

• The expo center’s new roof and insulation, redesigned exterior, upgrades to its heating, cooling and electrical systems, modernization of its existing bathrooms and the addition of 20 restrooms with showers so the property can be used for short-term stays in the event of a major disaster.

• A new fence around the property, the addition of greenspace and a roundabout to the parking lot to help direct traffic and a new storage garage for maintenance and track equipment.

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The county is looking for another $5 million in funding to build a new Belle-Clair Speedway facility with a track, stands, concessions and bathrooms.

For the property demolitions, Kern said officials will use part of a $2 million grant it received from the state this year to demolish properties across the county.

“We should benefit financially by being a part of such a large bid package,” the chairman stated in an email to the BND.

About $260,000 of the state grant has already been allocated to the first round of demolitions of a vacant commercial building in a Belleville historic district and 30 derelict homes in Cahokia Heights.

The County Board resolution to accept the grant money for the St. Clair County Demolition Program this year states that the purpose of the program is to rid the community of unsafe and blighted properties to increase public safety and improve residents’ quality of life.

When asked if all the properties around the fairgrounds are considered unsafe or blighted and if they need to be for the county to use funding from the grant to demolish them, Kern said the condition of the properties doesn’t matter for inclusion in the demolition program.

These properties were included because “that area is ripe for redevelopment,” Kern said.