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 program’s operating budget, which Willard said is roughly $250,000–$300,000 annually.

Officials told the committee the building has long‑running maintenance problems. Willard and Joe Ridget, director of design and construction with the state’s regional services (Building & General Services), described leaking skylights and bathrooms currently located on a mezzanine, a limited and strained electrical service that triggers brownouts during the fair, rotted exterior trim and deteriorating floor surfaces, and a mezzanine area not safe for public use. Willard said bathrooms located on the second floor have repeatedly leaked onto vendor booths and create accessibility challenges for elderly vendors.

Ridget said BGS is advancing a three‑phase renovation. The first phase concentrates on exterior repairs and roof work to stop leaks and remove rotted materials; the second phase addresses mechanical and electrical upgrades, including work to increase circuit capacity for vendors; the third phase completes interior reconfiguration and booth redesign. “We’re in the midst of design and we’re gonna be starting construction this year,” Ridget told the committee, and a construction manager is already on board to begin soliciting subcontractor bids.

Committee members pressed agency staff on vendor management, fees and space allocation. Willard said the agency runs a competitive vendor application process and uses a mix of full‑season and shorter contracts so smaller or first‑time vendors can test the market; in 2025 the commission rate charged vendors will rise to 15 percent from prior rates of 13.5 percent and 12 percent. Willard said the agency has experimented with turning storage into vendor space and with activating an underused outdoor patio and shed area with food trucks and additional vendor stalls, which she credited for part of recent sales growth.

Willard said the agency’s goals for the project are to improve vendor revenue and the visitor experience, protect the building’s historic character for a planned 2029 centennial celebration, and to bring the building up to code and reduce recurring, expensive maintenance. The agency noted some MA‑state code and fire marshal requirements must be met because the building sits in Massachusetts, and BGS will handle detailed compliance work.

The committee heard that the state appropriated $330,000 in 2023 to fund an engineering and design assessment for the building; BGS and the agency are using that work to inform construction‑phase priorities. Ridget cautioned that contractors’ bids may reveal additional, unforeseen repairs once rotted materials are removed, and said contingency allowances are in place for potential cost adjustments.

Officials did not present a final, single‑figure construction estimate for the full renovation during the hearing; they described the work as phased and tied to available capital funding in the current biennial capital bill process. Committee staff from the Joint Fiscal Office provided an update to senators on the capital bill process during the meeting, noting the House and governor’s recommendations were still being reconciled.

Willard said the agency hopes the renovated layout will allow flexibility for vendors to combine adjacent booths, support different cooking and hood needs, and move bathrooms to the ground floor for vendor use. Ridget said work will be sequenced to minimize disruption during the fair and that summer construction scheduling is a critical constraint because the building must be cleared before fair pack‑in dates.

The hearing closed with senators thanking agency and BGS staff for the briefing and noting follow‑up site visits and budget discussions would continue as the capital bill process advanced.