S3 Studios proposes film studio for State Fairgrounds

Thursday, May 6, 2010 | Source: metromode

S3 Entertainment Group is the latest organization to join the effort to save the Michigan State Fair by proposing to turn the State Fairgrounds into a film studio complex.

The Ferndale-based film studio has made a proposal to the state, which controls the 135-acre parcel, to invest millions of dollars into the State Fairgrounds infrastructure and continue operating the State Fair. That would mean a minimum of $500,000 annual commitment to improving the grounds and investing $4 million to build two, 20,000-square-foot sound stages in the next few years.

"We have the ability to get a studio up and running within the next 6-8 weeks," says Jeff Spillman, CEO of S3 Entertainment Group.

He adds that a large number of jobs will be created with this project now dubbed State Fair Studios. It would also generate revenue for the state through a lease that would eventually lead to the sale of the land. Spillman declined to discuss terms of that potential lease.

This latest plan is now competing with a plan for Huron-Clinton Metro Parks to take over the property and another for Hantz Farms to install a 40-acre urban farm on the land. Spillman says he and his investors are open to keeping the Joe Dumars Field House and urban farm at the fair grounds as part of their project.

Metro Parks is considering a takeover of the State Fairgrounds, proposing a deal where it would lease the land for $1 a year and run the annual Michigan State Fair. At the same time, the organization would work toward turning the property at Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road into a year-round Metro Park, the first in the city of Detroit. The park could include amenities such as a fishing area, cross country skiing, and athletic fields.

One of the major complaints Detroit and the inner-ring suburbs have had is that they pay taxes for Metro Parks, but most of that land is at the outer fringes of the region. Turning the State Fairgrounds into a Metro Park would go a long way toward remedying that complaint.

Hantz Farms is proposing to take over 40 acres and turn it into Detroit's first major urban commercial farm. The firm also has plans to turn large swaths of abandoned urban prairie in the city into commercial farms, too.

The Metro Parks board is set to vote on the idea next week. If it doesn't pass then Spillman says he and his investors are ready to step in right away with their plan.

"From what I understand (the Metro Parks plan) doesn't have the votes to go forward."

Source: Jeff Spillman, CEO of S3 Entertainment Group
Writer: Jon Zemke