Petaluma’s Past: Will we lose our historic fair grounds in five years?

There has been some closed-session talk, recently, about the City of Petaluma turning our Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds/Kenilworth Park over to developers.

Perhaps for condos.

Or apartments.

Or more mall shopping.

Have I fully grabbed your attention yet?

Apparently, the 108-year-old property’s lease will be up in 2023, and as most of us know, our City coffers are still hurting from the Great Recession.

So some are considering selling or developing our cherished park as an option. The opinion of this writer is that said action would be a travesty for our community. It would, at the very least, be the abandonment of our historic agricultural roots.

Let’s look at a little history here (as I am wont to do).

It was in 1910 that our merchants and leaders first decided, and strongly so, that we should have a substantial green space within our city limits. They proposed a bond issue to purchase the then-80-acre-parcel which adjoined our city limits, to serve as a park and as an asset for our agricultural heritage. The property, named “Stover Acres” at the time, was owned by Petaluman Harry Stover. Harry used it as a stud farm for thoroughbred race horses, and he stabled over 100 of them there. The most important of his stock, by far, was a tall brown stallion named “Kenilworth.”

Kenilworth was born in 1898. He stood 16 hands high and over the first 7 years of his life, he won an incredible 94 races! He was often compared to the world-famous race horse “Man Of War,” a justifiable claim given that Kenilworth had equaled two of Man Of War’s speed records. The Stover Farm was to be known forever after as the “Home Of Kenilworth,” and our City Fathers had no problem in carrying that name over to the future park.

The effort to purchase the Kenilworth land in 1910 involved a bond issue of $20,000, and it required a special election to pass. Our Merchant’s Association President stated, back then, “Petaluma is growing rapidly and we must plan for the future.”

Wickersham banker Frank Atwater urged, “We need it now!”

The editorial in the Courier said, “Let us all support this fair!”

And, in fact, the idea had the strong backing of such important Petaluma names as McNear, Vogenson, Hill, Nisson, Behrens, Woodson, Cader, Olmsted, Van Bebber, Acorne, Tomasini, Sanderson, Mattei and Poehlman.

Is it to be our current politicians who go against these historic community wishes?

Is there no way to save this important asset?

The 1910 vote was positive, and in response Courier Editor Olmsted said, “Petaluma voted bonds of $20,000 to purchase Kenilworth, a beautiful wooded tract. It is proposed that the holding of fairs, high school field days, military drills, auto races, aviation meets, baseball games and other events can now be held on a grand scale!”

Over the many years since, 54,000-plus square feet of buildings have been constructed therein, mostly through State of California funds.

Jumping forward to 1937, a lease was signed by then Mayor Jasper Woodson, with the 4th District Agricultural Association (a combination of the Sonoma and Marin County Agrigultural Districts), and over the decades since, that lease has seen numerous resolutions, letters of intent and modifications, and has been written and rewritten by City Councils, attorneys, planners, fair managers and various commissions. In 1941, A.E. Snider, a California Ag official, declared our fair to be, in his words, “The Finest Agricultural Fair in the State of California and any community would love to have this property within its boundaries.”

Don’t we still want to protect and save this asset?

How many cities of our size can boast having a 60-acre park within its City limits?

Over the years, the Fair Board has wisely sublet some buildings and grounds to the public for other uses, as long as said uses don’t interfere with the once-a-year fair. It was a need for maintenance funds that prompted those sublets. Currently, some of these money-making usages include The Petaluma School District offices, the Airport Express office, Park and Ride, The Java Hut, The Live Oak Pre-School, the Pronzini Christmas Tree lot, auto racing, parties, weddings and contests. And, as most now know, Kenilworth Park was invaluable for emergency relief to last October’s fire victims, including their dogs, cats, horses, canaries, and more!

The current 25-year lease is up in 5 years.

Let’s ask some important questions.

(1) Can the income from various entities be shared with the City?

(2) Can more interim uses, that won’t interrupt the fair, be sought to provide more funds?

(3) Does any re-usage require a vote of the public? (Answers to that, have been all over the place, but three City Attorneys have stated that a sale, or deeding to the State, or any total re-usage of the property, would require a public vote.

(4) Is it necessary to retain the automobile racing, which disturbs our summer night’s quiet for miles in all directions?

Well, as my readers would expect, I do have some suggestions of my own. I see no reason that all buildings and grounds cannot be leased-out to obtain badly needed funds during times that will not interfere with the yearly fair itself. There is good management in place now, and with proper advertising (think Craigslist) and gleaning of future prospects, we very well would have a year-around profit center that could be split with the city - and still keep our cherished fairgrounds and park.

Here are some additional thoughts.

The cavernous building that used to be leased to Skip Domingo’s Antique Auctions (before Skip retired in 2016) could be re-leased on the same terms. It would be great as an indoor activities barn. (Paintball? Bocce Ball? Bow & arrow target range? Exhibitions, such as Wine Industry events, public storage, etc.?) Other buildings could be leased for parties, weddings, concert venues, etcetera. Maybe even an indoor electronic golf driving range!

Outdoor activities still must include our schools’ free usages for their events. But income generation could come from bocce ball, volley ball, horse shoe-tossing, mini-golf range, badminton, soccer field, a kiddies’ play yard of sand, climbing, sliding and swinging. Even some horse show events?

Did I mention baseball?

What about Minor League Baseball? Why not redesign that noisy race track area - which only brings in 5 percent of the total fair grounds’ income - into a baseball field? It already has a grand stand. It couldn’t be that pricey to do.

Zowie, I’m getting excited here!

This is not just a Petaluma issue, folks.

Interested Sonoma County and Marin County residents and Marinites can go to Savekenilworth.org, and add their own two-bits. Or perhaps, there may be some generous person or organization willing to donate funds to such an important cause?

I bet those folks who lost almost all, in the October fires - and made the fairgrounds their home for those long, scary days - would have very strong opinions about our cherished park.

(Historian Skip Sommer is an honorary life member of Heritage Homes and the Petaluma Historical Museum. Contact him at skipsommer@hotmail.com)