Construction Begins for Fair Hill’s Future


by Katherine O. Rizzo It started over a decade ago… the idea for a multi-use facility here in


Maryland that would rival facilities such as the Kentucky Horse Park. Several years and several studies later, Phase 1 of construction officially began at the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in Elkton on May 28. Te multi-phase improvement project will ultimately both enhance what already exists at Fair Hill as well as bring even more world class equestrian sports to Maryland.


William du Pont’s Vision


Fair Hill as a multi-use equestrian facility began with its founder Wil- liam du Pont, Jr., who in the 1920s, began buying up 8,000 acres of land in order to create a haven for fox chasing and steeplechasing. When the Great Depression hit the rural communities, du Pont saw an opportunity to in- crease his Cecil County landholdings by purchasing a number of small farms,


then


Fair Hill Building Timeline provided by Ross Peddicord, MHIB executive director


2004: At the Maryland Horse Forum, attendees expressed desire for a Maryland Horse Park similar to the Kentucky Horse Park.


2005: Te Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) commissioned the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) to conduct a study in con- junction with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development on building a Horse Park in Maryland.


offer-


ing jobs and housing to the farmers from whom he purchased the land. Little by little, he began to tie together these small farms to form Fox- catcher Farm, Inc., (MD) and Spring- lawn Farm (PA). By the late 1940s,


William du Pont, Jr. purchased over 8,000 acres in Maryland and Pennsylvania to build a fox- hunter’s paradise. The Maryland portion of his estate became what is now known as Fair Hill.


du Pont’s holdings were vast. He built a kennel with outbuild- ings to accommodate the hounds, hunts-


man and staff, which were the origins of Foxcatcher Hounds. He built coops and other jumps between fencelines to allow for easier following of the hounds. It was du Pont who also built the bridges and tunnels over and under major roads to keep his hounds and staff safe while hunting. Du Pont’s other equestrian love was steeplechasing. In 1934 the Fox-


catcher National Cup debuted at what is now known as the Fair Hill section of his property. Te daunting three mile course had 19 obstacles with the lowest fence being 4’8’’ and the highest being 6’4’’. To maintain the sod for the track, he set aside about 400 acres east of Appleton Road to grow the proper sod needed for racing. Members of the Calvert, Cecilton and Colora Granges met in 1953


to found the Cecil County 4-H Fair. Tey approached du Pont request- ing to use his property for the fair’s location. Du Pont agreed and was extremely supportive of the new fair, sharing expenses of the fair for the first few years. He even donated the funds to build the grandstand and outbuildings needed to exhibit livestock. Du Pont himself was a cattle- man as well! Te first Cecil County 4-H Fair was held at du Pont’s estate in 1954 as a one-day event with free admission. In the 1960s, du Pont’s daughter Jean Ellen (McConnell) Sheehan


took over hunting his pack and du Pont followed his hounds via a jeep instead of a horse until his death on December 31, 1965. It was not until 1974 that the State of Maryland purchased the 5,633


acres south of the Pennsylvania/Maryland line for $6 million from the William du Pont, Jr., estate, using Open Space Funds. Under the sales agreement with the state was an informal agreement that various eques- trian activities such as foxhunting, steeplechasing and the fair still con- tinue on the property. Te first international level three-day event was held at Fair Hill in


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2006: Te Horse Park study was released and locations were narrowed down to the Naval Academy Dairy Farm (Gambrills) and Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area (Elkton). Te Gambrills site won because of its central Maryland location, however, due to various circumstances, the park was not built.


2009: At the Maryland Horse Forum, attendees once again expressed desire for construction of a Maryland Horse Park.


2011: MHIB voted to pay for and take another look at the original Horse Park study under the auspices of the MSA to see if still feasible.


2012: Te revived MSA study found that, despite the 2008 economic downturn, the state’s equine industry was still sufficiently large enough to support a Maryland Horse Park.


2014: MHIB, with a grant from the Maryland Department of Busi- ness and Economic Development, resumed the original study, this time concentrating on a Maryland Horse Park System that would refurbish and modernize existing horse competition facilities on pub- licly owned land. Fair Hill for an equestrian field event venue and the Prince George’s Equestrian Center (PGEC) for an equestrian show/ expo venue applied for consideration.


2015: Te MSA Report was released in September, advocating for approximately $30 million in improvements at PGEC and $20 mil- lion at Fair Hill. MHIB officials began meeting with the management teams at both venues to start discussions on how to go forward.


2016: Bidding process for an additional four-star (now five-star) FEI- sanctioned event in the mid-Atlantic region began with Fair Hill on the bid list.


2017: In July, USEF announces Fair Hill as the five-star bid winner.


2018: Various state agencies and about a dozen Fair Hill stakeholder groups swung into action to work together and gain the necessary per- mitting and funding for construction. An initial $2 million was raised from the public and private sectors to formulate design, engineering, water and utilities plans.


2019: In March, British Olympian Ian Stark was hired to design the new five-star cross-country course. In May, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved $17 million in funds to start Phase I of con- struction for the new venue. May 24 was the official ground breaking and construction began on May 28.


2020: April test event over the new cross-country course, with the five-star scheduled for October.


Te bid, and subsequent awarding of the five-star, jump starts improve- ments at Fair Hill. Once Fair Hill has moved further along in the process, then discussions will be needed to restart the improvements at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center.


JULY 2019 | THE EQUIERY | 17


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