"Renaissance Festival Eyeing Possible New Home Near Belle Plaine"

[groomporter]

First concrete news I've seen about possible new location

Jim Peterson, owner of Mid-America Festivals, is vetting two areas – one including parcels of land north of Belle Plaine, west of Highway 169 on the west side of County Road 59 (Delaware Avenue), southwest of the Scott County Fairgrounds in St. Lawrence Township.

http://belleplaineherald.com/Content/News/Local/Article/Renaissance-Festival-Eyeing-Possible-New-Home-Near-B-P-/7/39/5848

[Butch]

Well, it's closer to Kansas City.  Good for me!

[Gauwyn of Bracknell]

since this is just South of current location - is it similar in its appearance? is it by the river?

[Rowan MacD]

 Somebody in the comments section for the article said they had been out there to visit the proposed site.   He liked that they have trees and some small hills; sounds like an interesting site with good potential.
   Starting over from scratch gives the PTB the opportunity to fix the past issues and set things up the way they want them.   If done right; the faire should be better for the move, judging form past pet peeves.  It appears that MRF outgrew it's home a while ago.
  I wonder if they will be attempting to move most of the buildings, or will they just rebuild from scratch?  Do the vendors own their booths, or do they lease them?

[groomporter]

We crafters own our booths and lease the land they sit on, so it would be up to us to move them or rebuild. A lot are not movable, or would not be up to current building codes even if moveable. I would expect to see a lot more tents and temporary structures for the first few years. We haven't heard anything yet about any incentives MAF might offer to encourage crafters to build on a new site.

[groomporter]

Another new article
http://www.swnewsmedia.com/shakopee_valley_news/news/business/article_dc1061d8-ac29-5fad-bc15-46f4fe1fb044.html

[Gauwyn of Bracknell]

   Starting over from scratch gives the PTB the opportunity to fix the past issues and set things up the way they want them.   

What past issues do you speak of?

[groomporter]

One of the things I've heard they want to do is redesign some of the stages to better reflect the way they are used and deal with the audience volume.
Electrical service on site sucks, so even if you're one of the few booths that has electricity, the circuit breakers down the street frequently pop.
Running water is limited and due to the shallow soil, the plastic water lines are often just a few inches underground so before opening weekend it's fairly common to lose water on most of the site because someone remodeling their booth has accidentally cut one of the lines. (been there, done that).
Design the layout for better drainage in the event of heavy rains?

An exciting thing would be to make the neighborhood where the (heated) feast hall is located usable year-round for more off-season parties, weddings and other events. (music festival?) I would fence that neighborhood off in a way that it could be gated and isolated from the rest of the site so less security would be needed to patrol the site when hosting smaller events. Include a couple outdoor stages in the year-round area as well as room for easy-ups for temporary vendors, or a large market tent that could be divided into 10x10 booths or as an outdoor stage safe from rain. Of course this would mean having at least part of the parking lot usable year-round.

[Butch]

Do the vendors/crafters have a means to relays these beneficial suggestions to Mr. Peterson, or the developer?

[groomporter]

There is new a private Artisan's Only online group that has Carr Hagerman and the Crafts coordinator on it where there is starting to be some discussions

A while back I suggested having a sit-down coffee house with a stage, so there was at least one "pub"-like performance venue that didn't serve alcohol, and was told they had also kicked around a similar idea.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

That would be great if some of the building are movable and this reusable.. New construction of a Front gate, Dining Hall(Bad Manor), Stages will be well worth it. Patrons such as myself would not mind bearing higher ticket prices should it come to that.

Yet there is much to the current site that carry many memories for me, now that I finally know where everything is.

[Rowan MacD]

 So, is Mid America considering buying land for this?  Or are they wanting to lease again?
 
  I can't say for sure, but I think most of the big, established faires own their own sites.

  I think MRF can definitely be considered an established and permanent faire, and way overdue for a place of it's own. 

[groomporter]

One would hope they are buying, but no word either way yet.