GEDDES — On the opening day of the Great New York State Fair on Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a handful of projects that include the first new concession stand in decades and improvements to agricultural buildings on the fairgrounds.

A new 15,000-square-foot sheep barn will be constructed after the old barn was torn down due to damage from a storm. The sheep barn will feature a new wool center, which is now in a separate building. The new barn will be built and open ahead of the 2024 fair.

A greenhouse is also part of the fair’s plans. Food and flowers will be grown inside the facility, which can be used year-round. Agricultural demonstrations will be held inside the greenhouse.

The other projects include a new 2,500-square-foot goat pavilion that is scheduled to open next year and three 9,000-square-foot stables for horse shows that are hosted at the fairgrounds. The stables will be ready for use by the 2024 fair.

Restaurant Row streetscape improvements are also in the works and a new 1,600-square-foot concession stand that will house Tully’s Good Times, a restaurant chain and longtime fair vendor. The state has already awarded contracts for the construction of the stand.

The 2022-23 state budget included $34.7 million to fund the projects.

“We’re going to keep investing it, Hochul said at the fairgrounds on Wednesday. “The investments up until this year have been extraordinary, but I’ve always wanted to raise the bar.”

The fair is hoping to rebound after a down year in 2021, the first fair held after the COVID-19 pandemic led to its cancellation two years ago. Before COVID, the fair set all-time attendance records four years in a row. In 2019, it drew more than 1.3 million visitors.

Hochul already addressed one challenge that the fair faced in 2021. Her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, expanded the fair to 18 days. But fair officials and vendors found it difficult. Some vendors pulled out because they could not meet the demands of an 18-day schedule.

After Hochul took office last year, she said the fair would return to 13 days this year. The fair will run through Monday, Sept. 5.

Hochul spent some time on the fairgrounds after announcing the projects. Her tour through the fair took her to the Van Robinson Pan-African Village, the maple stand inside the Horticulture Building, the New York State Police exhibit, the Dairy Products Building and she concluded her visit with a stop at Basilio’s for an Italian sausage sandwich.