NOS and Lewis Group: An imminent partnership
Leaders from the National Orange Show and Lewis Investment Corp. are nearing a long-awaited agreement on a development plan to revitalize the historic fairgrounds, an NOS official told me today.
NOS spokesman Bruce Varner said the board of directors has approved in concept some building plans from the major regional developer and that now only “fine-tuning” remains.
Talks between the two entities have been ongoing since last year. Varner said a major announcement should be forthcoming in a matter of weeks and that a mix of new hospitality, office and commercial development is planned at the site.
Varner wasn't too keen on revealing details, but did let on that core buildings will be maintained and refurbished while significant amounts of demolition and rebuilding will be part of the overall plan.
"We're going to go from more carnival to more community centered," Varner said. "Think of the grounds as being less carnival and more community."
The NOS will continue to serve as a state fairgrounds, Varner said.
This smells like another failed project in the making. The NOS used to be a celebration of San Bernardino County, and our orange industry. What did San Bernardino turn it into? A 3 day carnival, free to drunks, gang members and general low-life. There's no way that I would take my family there! And, until I see what Lewis is planning, I'm going to remain skeptical. The Pomona Fair attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The Orange Show? Face it, San Bernardino, you've killed it through your "Let's appeal to the lowest common denominator" approach.
The Orange Show used to be the pride of the area, a nationally known affair. Now it is a blink-and-its-gone tawdry fair, with a bunch of dilapidated buildings sitting empty all year long. The Date Festival out at Indio is better.
One always hopes for the best, but I don't quite see what they hope to turn it into. The area surrounbding it is pretty grungy. That's the problem with trying to do redevelopment in San Bernardino: It produces an enclave of newness surroubnded by grubbiness.
They are building new condos in Meadowbrook. The condos are nice, but, good God, who would want to move into that area & raise a family there. They are talking about doing something upscale around Seccombe Lake. With Waterman Avenue being a strip mall of squalor? Get real!