BLOOMINGTON -- Falling victim to declining use and increased competition, the Interstate Center's main expo building will be sold to a Rantoul-based equipment dealer -- leaving the long-term fate of some popular public events uncertain.

Birkey's Farm Stores plans to purchase the building and the adjacent parking lot and land to the east and north of the building, according to Mike Swartz, general manager of the McLean County Fair and the Interstate Center.

The deal is expected to close Dec. 1; terms were not disclosed.

The Interstate Center will lease back a large portion of the facility to accommodate already-scheduled events in late 2009 and part of 2010, including the Third Sunday Market, the Illinois Deer & Turkey Classic and the Mennonite Relief Sale, though adjustments will have to be made.

Whether events stay beyond the coming year, with less space available, is not yet known.

"It will be up to customers to decide if they want to stay with the space we have remaining," Swartz said Tuesday.

But the site's most popular event, the McLean County Fair, is committed to the Illinois 9 location on Bloomington's west edge, said Swartz.

"We are committed to staying at this property," he said. "We built it as a fairground."

Birkey's, meanwhile, plans to close its 15,000-square-foot Hudson dealership June 30 and reopen an expanded location at the Bloomington site July 1. The business, which sells Case IH farm equipment and Case construction equipment, will use the majority of the 90,000-square-foot main expo building.

"We're excited. It's been something we've needed for a long time," said Ron Birkey, company president and CEO.

Swartz said use of the venue, which opened in 1997, has declined in recent years. It hosted 330 events in 2007 and about 220 in 2008, but only 110 are expected this year.

"You have to have people coming through the door and cash coming through to maintain a large facility like this," he said. "We were really just becoming a weekend facility and that cannot sustain our bottom line."

The McLean County Farm Bureau, which oversees the fair, owns the 92-acre Interstate Center complex.

After the financial problems surfaced, Interstate Center officials contacted other businesses about acquiring the main expo center. That facility includes Cloverleaf Hall and Interstate Hall, as well as office, kitchen, conference and storage space. About two-thirds of the building is public exhibition space.

That translated into an opportunity for Birkey's, which had planned to build a new location in north Normal to replace the Hudson store, Birkey said.

After the deal closes, the Interstate Center will lease back about 90 percent of the main expo building through July 1, allowing previously contracted events to proceed.

Swartz has contacted representatives of about 95 percent of those commitments, including the Third Sunday Market, the facility's second-most popular event; the Illinois Deer & Turkey Classic; and the Mennonite Relief Sale. "Of the ones I have talked to, nobody has said they are walking," Swartz said.

Adjustments will be needed

Adjustments will have to be made, though.

For example, during the McLean County Fair, 4-H judging that was formerly done at Cloverleaf Hall will move to the west expo building, formerly used by a hockey and inline skating program. A new main entrance also will be developed, and only half of the main parking lot will be available for fairgoers, who totaled 50,000 this year.

Birkey's will begin remodeling parts of the facility after it takes ownership.

After July 1, it will occupy about 55,000 square feet of the main expo center building. About 24,000 square feet of public exhibition space then will be available -- down from 60,000 square feet.

The Bloomington City Council, which will hear a presentation Monday, will need to OK a new subdivision agreement.