City of Gainesville Commissioner Mail Archive

Pamela Ballance,

I volunteered this year at the Faire & have attended for years at various venues.

I thought the activity was great at Depot Park but was "packed" & space was difficult as you mentioned...Parking in my estimation was about the same as when it was out at Archer Road. At that venue, there was significant traffic back up, time delays, & concerns.

It has been at Depot Park just the one year thus far. City staff worked hard to ensure it would occur & the City spent thousands of dollars to fund the event.

One positive - it was free to attend so attendees theoretically could redirect those dollars to vendors. My understanding is vendors did not do as well though since the event was 1 weekend instead of 3.

Venue is the biggest concern as you indicated. For the City to be a large funding partner, my opinion is it would need to remain in or close to the City or at a City venue however it does not appear we have a space & enough weekends to solve all the logistics. None of the 4 locations you mention are in the City so County partnerships would likely need to be an option.

You are probably doing this - if not, I recommend you engage with our City Parks & Recreation staff on options & solutions.

I don't have any complete solutions either - just wanted you to know you had been heard (read) & I support this community event. I have enjoyed the Faire many times.

Ed Book

City Commissioner

From: Pamela Ballance <artoodetoo12482@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2024 9:25 PM
To: citycomm <citycomm@gainesvillefl.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Hoggtowne Medieval Faire - Location

Good Evening Commissioners,

I hope this message reaches each of you well. While I know that the Hoggtowne Medieval Faire may be but a blip on your hefty agendas I did want to take the time to reach out to you and ask why the commission continues to host this event at Depot Park? Parking downtown is a known issue and the space at Depot is so oddly dispursed, with so many other lovely options within our city, whether City or County owned, I am perplexed why this continues to be the choice.

Have the following locations been considered:

Monteocha Park

Cynthia Moore Chestnut Park

Veteran's Memorial Park

Perhaps even the use of the Rotary Clubs lands (with their consent of course) that are used for the Wild Turkey Feast annually.

Each of these areas do not often get larger events and it would drive business to areas of town that may otherwise go overlooked by visitors. Additionally it would allow residents to discover areas of the community they did not necessarily know existed and allow for the faire to retain some symbolance of it's historic layout that thrilled so many of us for decades prior to the County relocating the Fair Grounds outside of the city limits.

I know my ideas are not all it takes to solve a problem but I wanted to at least throw them into the ring for future consideration of potential locations for this much loved community event.

Thank you for your time,

Pam Ballance

Date Received:	6/14/2024 5:07:43 PM
To:	Pamela Ballance
Cc:	Gallopp, Francisco A
From:	Book, Edwin A
Subject:	Re: [EXTERNAL] Hoggtowne Medieval Faire - Location
Attachments:
Message:	Pamela Ballance, I volunteered this year at the Faire & have attended for years at various venues. I thought the activity was great at Depot Park but was "packed" & space was difficult as you mentioned...Parking in my estimation was about the same as when it was out at Archer Road. At that venue, there was significant traffic back up, time delays, & concerns. It has been at Depot Park just the one year thus far. City staff worked hard to ensure it would occur & the City spent thousands of dollars to fund the event. One positive - it was free to attend so attendees theoretically could redirect those dollars to vendors. My understanding is vendors did not do as well though since the event was 1 weekend instead of 3. Venue is the biggest concern as you indicated. For the City to be a large funding partner, my opinion is it would need to remain in or close to the City or at a City venue however it does not appear we have a space & enough weekends to solve all the logistics. None of the 4 locations you mention are in the City so County partnerships would likely need to be an option. You are probably doing this - if not, I recommend you engage with our City Parks & Recreation staff on options & solutions. I don't have any complete solutions either - just wanted you to know you had been heard (read) & I support this community event. I have enjoyed the Faire many times. Ed Ed Book City Commissioner From: Pamela Ballance <artoodetoo12482@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2024 9:25 PM To: citycomm <citycomm@gainesvillefl.gov> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Hoggtowne Medieval Faire - Location Good Evening Commissioners, I hope this message reaches each of you well. While I know that the Hoggtowne Medieval Faire may be but a blip on your hefty agendas I did want to take the time to reach out to you and ask why the commission continues to host this event at Depot Park? Parking downtown is a known issue and the space at Depot is so oddly dispursed, with so many other lovely options within our city, whether City or County owned, I am perplexed why this continues to be the choice. Have the following locations been considered: Monteocha Park Cynthia Moore Chestnut Park Veteran's Memorial Park Perhaps even the use of the Rotary Clubs lands (with their consent of course) that are used for the Wild Turkey Feast annually. Each of these areas do not often get larger events and it would drive business to areas of town that may otherwise go overlooked by visitors. Additionally it would allow residents to discover areas of the community they did not necessarily know existed and allow for the faire to retain some symbolance of it's historic layout that thrilled so many of us for decades prior to the County relocating the Fair Grounds outside of the city limits. I know my ideas are not all it takes to solve a problem but I wanted to at least throw them into the ring for future consideration of potential locations for this much loved community event. Thank you for your time, Pam Ballance

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