Vermont outlines multi‑phase renovation plan for Vermont Building at the Big E

Vermont Agency of Agriculture officials told the Senate Committee on Institutions and Information Technology on March 20 that they have begun multi‑phase design work and are seeking additional capital funding to renovate the Vermont Building at the Eastern States Exposition (the Big E) in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

The agency presented the project as a combination of exterior repairs, mechanical and electrical upgrades, and an interior reconfiguration intended to increase vendor capacity from the current high‑teens to more than 25 booths and to improve accessibility and vendor facilities. Abby Willard, director of the Agency of Agriculture’s Agricultural Development Division, said the building is a “public market” for Vermont products and highlighted the economic opportunity created by the fair’s visitorship.

Why it matters: the Big E draws large regional crowds and is a key sales and marketing venue for Vermont producers. Willard said roughly 1,600,000 people attend the fair annually and estimated that about 90% of fairgoers walk the Avenue of the States and enter the Vermont Building; the building’s 2024 vendor sales topped $2.2 million, a record. The agency receives a commission from vendor sales that covers part of the…