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Phoenix Spending Bond Funds To Reassess Historic Fairgrounds Building

Preservationists and the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board are at odds over how much it would cost to restore a threatened historic building on the fairgrounds.

So the city of Phoenix has agreed to pay at least $20,000 to get another opinion.

Initial estimates — which were conducted last year by contractors hired by the State Fair — came in at nearly $1 million to make the 1938 Art Deco building safe again for public use. The cash-strapped State Fair determined it was more economical to raze the structure and use the extra land to rent to vendors as another source of revenue.

But this summer the State Fair Board put those demolition plans on hold after backlash from preservationists, who argued the initial renovation estimates were overblown.

Phoenix officials now hope to settle the disagreement by paying for a second assessment this fall. The money will come from the 2006 City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Bond Program, a voter-approved initiative that's nearly depleted.

“The fact that we’re spending this $20,000, and we’ll probably even go over that, that’s about all we can spare," said Michelle Dodds, the city's historic preservation officer.

This time around, contractors who specialize in historic buildings will conduct the assessment, Dodds said. They’ll also look at different ways the building could be used and how much each scenario might cost.

But ultimately, the State Fair will have the final say.

“The state has their issues financially and so do we," Dodds said.

Kristena Hansen was a reporting at KJZZ from 2014 to 2015.