It's easy to panic just a little when a consultant team throws out a number like $175 million. That's how much we've just been told it would take to build the "ideal" fairgrounds at a new location. But as with nearly every consultant's report you're ever going to see, that's not the whole story. It's not even most of the story.
Consider that the consultants haven't simultaneously told us what it costs to maintain the Fair at its current location in its current condition. Nor how much it would cost to upgrade the current facilities to "ideal" status. Nor how much it would cost to build new facilities that are less than "ideal" but still superior to the current fairgrounds. And so on.
For comparison purposes, consider that the Antelope Valley Project's price tag, at last check, was approaching $250 million.
Without appropriate context, the $175 million price tag is mostly meaningless. This sort of decision can't be made on a single price tag alone. Indeed, that's how policymakers try to scare people, and that's exactly how this report will be (and already is being) used.
There are a lot of perfectly valid reasons to keep the Fair where it is. One price tag, standing alone, is a pretty weak one.
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I’m not opposed to spending the money to do it. This could be done with a smaller bond issue than LPS got, and it could be spread to people beyond Lincoln and Lancaster County.
With that said… do we need to spend millions for a new 8,000 seat arena at the fair AND a new city area in the Haymarket? There can’t be enough demand in Lincoln for two new arenas, can there? Do the Stars need an 8.000 seat arena? I love the Stars, by the way.
Could the state fair simply move to the new blighted area and be built around the giant new arena in the Haymarket and kill a bunch of birds with one stone?
No, because that puts the icky State Fair next to the 2015 Vision Group’s pretty new developments.
Wouldn’t the “ideal” fairgrounds not be icky (save for melted snowcones and such)?
It could be a totally natural extension to the West of the Haymarket. The buildings could be new, but built to fit into the landscape. There could be additional parking available for those downtown. That new little trolley could go there. More room for Farmers Markets, etc.
It would be worth a look. There could be ample uses the other 355 days of the year.
Unless I missed something in the report about having “ideal” animals that don’t poop, it probably would still be icky.
Plus all those icky rural people from west of York would be walking around in the nice trendy Haymarket, and they’d probably think that there should be teepees at the Indian Oven.
...and the birthing pavilion!! Definitely icky.
YUCKSVILLE!
Last week I heard that enough private funds are committed to moving the fairgrounds to 84th Street without requiring any governmental general fund dollars. I don’t know the details, but that was surprising to hear.
That’s great news - anything that can make 84th Street more congested is very welcome news (rolls eyes).
Then I say, bring on the bulldozers! Let’s build that technology park! Let the smell of deep-fried twinkies fight the smell of that Purina plant or whatever it is between 70th and 84th on Cornhusker Highway!
I anticipate that eventually the State Fair will move out of Lincoln. It’s agricultural underpinnings don’t seem to fit Lincoln’s “vision” and most Lincolnites don’t appear to appreciate or want the Fair to be here anyway. There’s an air of indifference that will allow it to slip away.
Apparently, most Lincolnites consider the whole thing “icky”, “definitely icky”, and “yucksville”. I was born in Nebraska, moved away, and have lived here since 1982. I’ve been to the fair 3 times, and really only to go to concerts. Never been on one ride or gone to one exhibit. I appreciate the tax dollars coming into the city, but I’d shed no tear if it moves elsewhere.
I do think it’s important to keep the Stars and a place for them to play. If you’ve never experienced a Stars game, that should be on your list of things to do in Lincoln. It’s a blast!
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