COLUMBUS — The Ohio Expositions Commission, over the objections of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey, has approved a deal to put a 60-room hotel on the state fairgrounds.

        Mr. Dailey objected primarily to the length of the lease for 2.52 acres in the northeast corner of the fairgrounds, which could extend to 45 years.

        “It's unconscionable to approve a lease that extends way beyond the useful life of the product, which for a hotel would be about 40 years,” Mr. Dailey said Thursday after casting the only dissenting vote on the lease for Troy Motel Associates.

        The company plans to build a three-story hotel with at least 60 suites as well as meeting rooms, a restaurant and a pool by April 2003. Under the lease, Troy Motel would pay the fairgrounds $24,000 in annual rent the first 10 years, $29,040 the second 10 years and $35,138 the third 10 years. The contract also provides for two 15-year automatic rentals with rent to be negotiated.

        Commission member David Madison, who headed the committee that examined the proposal, said a hotel will bring more events — and thus more revenue — to the fairgrounds.

        “The competition for events in Columbus is unbelievable,” Mr. Madison said.

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