Demanding Upgrades to Exhibition Hall, Now!

June 23rd, 2017

Exhibition Hall (Building B) was built in 1957. The air conditioning units and old doors are outdated and in desperate need of an upgrade.
Exhibitors come from far and wide to sell their products at the Alameda County Fair, and renting Exhibit space is not cheap. Prices run well into the thousands for fair-time rental. As you may know temperatures in Pleasanton during Summer months can be HOT. Being an Exhibitor inside an Alameda County Fairgrounds building is a huge upgrade compared to being outside during the fair. EXCEPT in Exhibition Hall, where falsely advertised "air conditioned" temperatures regularly exceed 90 degrees during the fair. Faulty air conditioning units are responsible for high temperatures and are UNACCEPTABLE for Exhibitors who pay a higher premium to be inside. There have even been reports of temperature sensitive products being destroyed because of excessive heat inside the building. This problem NEEDS to be fixed. Research shows fair goers spend less time in Exhibition Hall than any other air conditioned shopping building on the Fairgrounds. Therefore there is a direct correlation between the outdated air conditioning, unhappy fair goers, and decreased sales reported by Exhibitors. This is ABSOLUTELY unfair to any Exhibitor inside Exhibition Hall who pays the same amount as one in a different building with ample air conditioning. Building A on the Fairgrounds is much newer and delightfully cool on a hot summer day. The air conditioning works well and fair goers are relieved upon entering the building. This is unfortunately not the case upon entering Exhibition Hall on a hot day.
Furthermore, the side exit doors in Exhibition Hall are faulty and hard to open and close. This is not only an annoyance to patrons of the fair and Exhibitors; This problem adds the the frustrations of fair goers and Exhibitors trying to enter and exit the building. How can people shop for items in Exhibition Hall if they cannot even enter the building? Furthermore, this issue could potentially be very dangerous. Rapid evacuation from the building may be required due to a fire, act of terrorism, or other catastrophic event. The old faulty doors may prevent innocent civilians from exiting the building and potentially losing their lives if such an incident were to occur. This issue, like the outdated air conditioning is UNACCEPTABLE.
This Petition DEMANDS a renovation to fix the issues of outdated amenities in Exhibition Hall. These issues have been ongoing for years and somehow swept under the rug as "not a big deal." These issues are in fact, a HUGE deal! These issues are making new and long time Exhibitors unhappy; And the only thing that makes the fair a success is...THE PEOPLE, who are also becoming unhappy.
These stated renovations MUST be a high priority issue NOW and MUST be dealt with ASAP. If these problems persist, and nothing is done to fix the air conditioning and exit doors before the Alameda County Fair in 2018, it is agreed amongst every current Exhibitor in Exhibition Hall that the price of Exhibit space inside Building B should be lowered to that of an Exhibit space outside or a substantial reduction in cost of Exhibit space should apply. It is simply not fair to charge Exhibitors the same amount for an Exhibit space in buildings A and B when the quality and comfortability of Exhibit space in building B is much worse than that of building A.
The long time motto of the fair is "Family Fun for Everyone." Let us restore that phrase to include and promote EVERYONE to be happy and have fun at the fair. Thank you for taking the time to read this petition and please let us all come together to make improvements to the infrastructure and ultimately the Alameda County Fair as a whole.