Hutchinson ? Visitors to this year’s Kansas State Fair might want to carry something they would usually leave behind: a long-sleeved shirt.

Eleven longtime food vendors are being moved into permanent quarters in the old Commercial Building, which has been made over as the spacious — and air-conditioned — Cottonwood Court.

About $4 million has been spent since last year’s fair to renovate and air-condition both Cottonwood Court and the Domestic Arts building, red brick buildings in which generations of fairgoers have sweltered since the 1920s.

“What really excites us is that we were able to take two very historic buildings and restore them and improve them inside and out,” said state fair General Manager Denny Stoecklein. “Domestic Arts will be used the way it was, but Cottonwood Court has a totally new purpose.”

The transformations are part of a $29 million program of improvements at the fairgrounds.

“The air conditioning will be a big draw,” Farrol Brown said recently while helping build the new restaurant space in Cottonwood Court for South Hutchinson United Methodist Church, a mainstay of fair vendors. “As long as it stays hot, this building will be a big draw.”

For this year’s fair, which runs Sept. 5-14, the Cottonwood Court will offer seating for up to 1,000 diners at a time on the main floor and the mezzanine, which provides a view of the fairgrounds.

There still will be dozens of other food vendors on the fairgrounds, although many of the older food buildings have been torn down to accommodate future improvements.