MISSOURI STATE FAIR MASTER PLAN
The original master plan for the fairgrounds was designed by noted Kansas City landscape architect George Kessler, but little of that plan was actually realized. Most of the initial development planning was conducted by architect Thomas Bast during the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Development of spaces through different times and generations led to a rather disjointed pattern of structural placement and activity areas. Even during the 1990s little guidance was available for positioning new additions to structures and location of new buildings or spaces for exhibits, livestock staging, parking, entertainment and concessions.
In 1991, concerns expressed to the Missouri Arts Council by Roger Alewel, Director of the Missouri State Fair at the time, pertaining to the visual image and physical problems of the fairgrounds began the process that led to the formal development of a Missouri State Fairgrounds Master Plan. Through discussion with Doris Danna, FAIA of the Missouri Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and Dan Strauss, program administrator for the Missouri Arts Council, a State Fairgrounds Planning and Design Charrette was proposed. This charrette would invite planners and architects from across the Midwest to Sedalia to present the ideas and concepts on how best to proceed with development or redevelopment of the fairgrounds. The 1995 charrette was supported by Missouri's new Governor, Mel Carnahan, and recently appointed Fair Director, Bill Arthaud. The three-day charrette in early August, before the fair, was a great success and peaked interest in the fair throughout the State of Missouri, with legislators, fair participants, architects, historic preservationists, tourism groups, planners, artists, nostalgic buffs, and local citizen groups.
This charrette gave emphasis for the need of a new State Fairgrounds Master Plan. The initial movement encouraging the State Fair Master Plan was given energy by the formation of a new Missouri State Fair Commission. In January 1996, Governor Mel Carnahan appointed a nine-member commission to oversee the guidance of the Missouri State Fair administration and the fair's future development.
The Missouri State Fair Commission sought changes and revitalization of a unique and historic fairgrounds on approximately 400 acres of land owned by the State of Missouri in Sedalia. The commission worked diligently with the most recently appointed Fair Director, Gary Slater, to commence the planning process, and the development of a new Missouri State Fairgrounds Master Plan. Land use planning, development guidance, renovation of structures, traffic improvements, overall aesthetics, economics, marketing and the feasibility for redevelopment of the fairgounds was sought by both the commission and fairgrounds management. The result was the passage of State House Bill 18, Section 195, during the spring of 1997 to initiate a Missouri State Fairgrounds Master Planning process beginning in the winter of 1998.
The following links are broad and general descriptions of the major components of the 1998 Master Plan. The complete Master, totalling some 400 pages of planning and design, will serve the Missouri State Fair for years to come.
• Demolition Plan
• Renovation Plan
• New Construction Plan
• Concept Master Plan
• Master Plan Area Concepts and Amenities
Concept Master Plan
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