By Ian Rollins
Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Friday, March 23, 2007 12:00 am
An Arizona company, which holds large Renaissance festivals every year near Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C., has been in contact with Linn County officials about starting a similar event here.
The Linn County Board of Commissioners decided this week to make an offer on a piece of land for parks and recreation purposes such as this festival. County officials did not disclose the amount of the offer but said the money could come from internal funds or the sale of bonds.
Royal Faires is looking for land either in Linn or Washington County to hold a multi-weekend Renaissance festival in Oregon during the summer months. Robert Lepine, a partner in Royal Faires, said the company wants a new site to be in operation by July 2008.
Lepine and Linn Commissioner Roger Nyquist said the county and company are looking at two or three possible sites of more than 20 acres each along the Interstate 5 corridor.
In Washington County, the company is negotiating to hold the festival at the Washington County Fair Complex in Hillsboro.
Don Hillman, director of the fair complex, said Royal Faires wants to locate on 20 to 25 acres of the 101-acre complex. The festival would use some of the existing buildings.
The Washington County Fair Board has approved a 20-year lease with Royal Faires.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners, which must make the final decision, has sent it to a newly appointed fairgrounds task force, which will meet for the first time April 4.
The Linn commissioners voted Wednesday to make an offer on a piece of land. The offer expires in 90 days if a purchase agreement isn't reached.
The vote came after an executive session. Were the county to buy land and lease it to the festival organizers, Nyquist said there could be other uses as well, like parks and recreation.
Lepine said there are positives and negatives to both counties. The Hillsboro site is in the Portland metropolitan area and has existing infrastructure, but other large summer events in the area could present scheduling conflicts.
Royal Faires would have to start from scratch with a Linn County site, but the site would have direct access to I-5.
"We're torn as to which site is better," Lepine said. His team will look at the possible sites next week.
Why is Royal Faires interested in Oregon to begin with?
"We look for metro areas with a 2-million-plus population," Lepine said. "There are 17 renaissance festivals across the country, but there isn't one in the Northwest. There are maybe five more metro areas that could handle one, and Seattle and Portland are excellent candidates."
He described the Renaissance festivals as "mom and dad and the kids" events, "kind of like a county fair but with a European Renaissance theme, with food, crafts and entertainment."
The festivals have 12 stages with more than 30 acts performing each weekend. The Arizona festival is held on a 30-acre grounds with an English village built on it.
"The indications are, it would be a good family activity that we'd anticipate many families in Linn County would enjoy having here," Nyquist said. "As well, it seems to be a big event on a regional basis, which could have a positive economic impact on the community. The amount could be in the tens of millions of dollars."
Nyquist figures there are a "half-dozen" things that would need to come together for Royal Faires to pick Linn County, but he said the county will work on those.