Future of the State Fair in Lincoln

[almighty_tuna]

Vote passed today.  The Gov heads to GI to sign the bill next week.

[Coyote]

Group moves to put State Fair issue on the ballot

Nebraskans may have the chance to vote in November on whether or not the Nebraska State Fair should move from Lincoln to Grand Island. Seven people from Omaha and Lincoln filed a referendum petition with the Nebraska secretary of state's office on Monday to repeal LB1116, the bill signed by Gov. Dave Heineman to move the Nebraska State Fair from its current Lincoln location to Grand Island's Fonner Park.

[Candleshoe]

I guess it ain't over till Sawyer Brown shows up and sings...

[gisbuxfan]

If Grand Island loses this one because they can't seem to put things together in order to come up with the funding for the fair may be considered one of the biggest blunders this city has ever seen!

[Candleshoe]

Naw, I don't see a problem with GI coming up with the funding. Between the food and liquor tax they're talking about, plus all the arm twisting  of donations that Vavricek and Gnadt have proven to be masters of... that's not gonna be a problem. What the problem NOW is the Lincoln and Omaha interests that are all of a sudden going "WHAAAAAAAAAAA! and pulling this stunt of a petition. If it ends up staying in Lincoln... so be it. It'll cost three times as much, but it'll make Lincolnites happy. If it goes to Omaha... good luck! It won't be much of an ag event as it'll have to be primarily an entertainment event and I would suspect it would be extremely expensive to build... wherever in the Omaha area they can come up with a square mile that's not too expensive.

Otherwise, no, the biggest blunder EVER for the GI area was letting Dick Hartman and his gang of curmudgeons anywhere close to the state corrections board people who were all but handing the new prison to GI a few years ago. they were met at their car with a crowd of a dozen or two absolutely raving lunatics that were screaming and waving signs and other stuff in their faces. They then got the simple folk all riled up in their defense with Hartmans allegations that with a thousand prisoners, you'll get three thousand welfare family members who do nothing but wander the streets barefoot and steal peoples property to support their drug habits, all the while the two hundred guards go home everynight and beat their wives cuz they hate their jobs so much! And I am not making this stuff up!

That was GI's all time biggest blunder! The state fair facilities would be a nice thing to have here and would be a successful venture mainly because it wouldn't be limited to ten days of fair and a few dozen hockey games... the plans call for it to be a BIG draw for horse shows, livestock competitions and 4-H events, among other things, which GI already gets its unfair share of, but instead of going after the state events, these facilities allow it to go after the regional and national type of shows as well.

And THAT is where the real money is, I would think.

[Coyote]

Filers of fair petitions face tough odds

A group of seven Lincoln and Omaha residents has just six weeks to put together a petition-circulating team, gather almost 60,000 signatures and force a public vote on the Legislature’s April decision to move the State Fair to Grand Island. A veteran petition organizer from Columbus doesn’t think the group has enough time to follow up on its Monday filing with the Secretary of State’s office. And Grand Island officials say a petition drive will disrupt efforts to raise $8.5 million as their share of the cost of relocating the fair. To make the November ballot, those in the referendum ranks must get valid signatures from 5 percent of registered voters in 38 counties.

[Candleshoe]

http://www.theindependent.com/news/x415 ... task-force

Also during Thursday's meeting, Grand Island officials reported that they have accumulated almost $6.5 million of an $8.5 million match, to be committed to the project by July 1.

Cosner said a recent survey showed that people in Lincoln and Omaha are not happy about the move to Grand Island, although those who live west of Lincoln are excited about the possibility.

The centerpiece of the buildings envisioned for the Grand Island fairgrounds will be a 250,000-square-foot livestock complex. It will feature a beef barn with space for 1,100 head of cattle and a sheep barn with room for 1,700 sheep and goats, connected by a show arena.

Allan said the exhibition complex will be larger than similar facilities in Denver, Kansas City and Des Moines.

It also will be easier to navigate than the current fairgrounds -- with better parking.

[Stargazer]

I personally think the fair belongs in Grand Island... that's going to place it within reach of it's most loyal participants/attendees.  However, if anyone thinks that this isn't going to have a significant -negative- impact in terms of loss of attendance coming from Omaha and Lincoln (the city folk out to see some cows and pigs)... they're in for a big disappointment.

Anyone who aspired to getting the fair to the point of being on the scale of an Iowa State Fair.  Forget it... you need people.  The people aren't going to come all the way out to Grand Island.  I don't necessarily think we want to gun for a big time fair anyway.  Focus on the 'purists'... the 4H competitiions, etc.  It will certainly provide an economic boost to this part of the state.  But the days of the 'big state fair' (if there ever was one) are over.