By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Developers of the Ag Expo Center in eastern St. Joseph have given up on the proposed location, selling it for development of a business park.
Ag Expo Center officials say the site has been sold to developer Steven Craig.
Expo Center Executive Director Gerald Sprong says simple economics played into the decision.
“Bottom line is we could not raise the amount of money that was necessary to carry out the project,” Sprong tells KFEQ Ag Director Dione Bertling. “The crowning blow, I think, was the COVID-19 situation where people just weren’t willing to give money to let us do the grading and retire the indebtedness that we needed.”
The 145-acre site now will become a business park.
Sprong says the vision for the Ag Expo Center, particularly as a place for youth livestock shows, remains alive though it will be scaled back from the original vision.
While the sale might be a blow to the original plans for the Ag Expo Center, it opens new opportunities for economic development in St. Joseph.
St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Patt Lilly says the planned business park could be used by several businesses or for one large project.
“The most important thing from my vantage point is that we now have another available site that we can utilize in our marketing efforts and also be able to potentially propose for future projects as we receive interest from companies outside the community about St. Joseph,” Lilly tells St. Joseph Post.
Lilly says the site still needs infrastructure, but it’s location off Highway 36 and near Interstate 29 should make it very attractive to businesses.
Another aspect stands out to Lilly, who says it shouldn’t be overlooked. Lilly says having a private developer buy property for a business park is a welcomed development in St. Joseph.
“Something that we certainly see in larger communities, Kansas City,” Lilly says. “It’s easy to get a little envious when you’re sitting in St. Joe and you see developers in Kansas City building business parks, building shell buildings, all of those things and the fact that it’s happening here in St. Joe I think is very exciting for the community and certainly something to look forward to.”