GEDDES — Construction workers with HBP Joint Venture have started building the 136,000-square-foot Expo Center at the State Fairgrounds in Geddes. 

HBP Joint Venture is a partnership between Syracuse–based Hueber-Breuer Construction Co. Inc. and the Rochester–based Pike Company. QPK Design of Syracuse is handling the architectural-design work. 

The contract with HBP Joint Venture is valued at more than $62 million — with $50 million included in the fiscal year 2017-18 state budget and the balance coming from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. 

New York awarded the contract following a request-for-proposals selection process. The New York State Office of General Services (OGS) will manage the project, which is expected to be completed in time for use during the 2018 New York State Fair.

The 2017-18 state budget granted design-build authority to OGS to “ensure the timely completion” of the Expo Center prior to the 2018 State Fair. The state will use a project labor agreement (PLA) for construction. 

The project is part of the second phase of Gov. Cuomo’s plan to “revitalize the nation’s oldest state fair and fairgrounds and is part of the overall ‘Central New York Rising’ strategy to grow the region’s economy,” according to a Dec. 21 news release from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

“The new Expo Center will give us all the tools for a major year-round events business. As soon as the building was announced, we began to get interest from potential users. We will capitalize on that interest and deliver the promised benefits to Central New York,” Troy Waffner, acting director of the New York State Fair, said in the release.

The Expo Center will be the “largest” events facility north of New York City and between Boston and Cleveland, the state said. 

It will feature 110,000 square feet of “modern, flexible” programming space with 4,000 retractable seats and a clear span of 250 feet. It can hold up to 500 10-foot by 10-foot booths. 

The remaining space will include rooms for event workspace, meetings and conferences; restrooms that will be available all year; a concession stand and catering space; and an outside balcony.

The New York State Fair, which the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets operates, is scheduled this summer between Aug. 22 and Sept. 3.