State Fair Q&A with Phil Erdman and Prem Paul
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
On Friday, the Lincoln Journal Star asked Sen. Phil Erdman, chairman of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee, and Prem Paul, vice chancellor for research and economic development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, questions regarding Nebraska State Fair and State Fair Park legislation.
Their responses follow. Some are edited for space; some others are paraphrased.
Q: When will the Agriculture Committee meet?
A: Erdman — Soon.
Q: What are the committee’s options?
A: Erdman — To advance a bill, in whatever form, that resolves this issue.
The committee could state where the fair would be held. The committee could let the fair board decide where the fair would be held. The committee could determine a process for this decision to be made. The committee could kill all the bills, and the fair would stay where it is.
The options are numerous.
Q: If the ag committee opts to do nothing, is there any other way for the Legislature to take action on the fair issue?
A: Erdman — You can amend something else. Find a bill, gut it, put an amendment in it that does X, Y or Z. But it is a lot clearer to have a bill of your own.
Q: If the Ag Committee does send a bill or bills to the floor, is there still time for final action by the full Legislature?
A: Erdman — Absolutely. The absolute deadline for sending a bill to the full Legislature is four days before the end of the session. That’s a practical deadline. That’s obviously not a deadline anyone is hoping for.
Q: If the Legislature does nothing this session, does nothing happen until next year regarding the fair’s future and the future of a research park?
A: Erdman — Not necessarily. But it is generally the opinion of many that if the issue is not resolved this year, the conversation is over.
This is the opportunity to resolve this. If the Legislature cannot pass a bill, if it does not address the concerns and the status quo continues, I believe it is appropriate and essential to allow the fair to begin the development of State Fair Park immediately.
Q: If the ag committee recommends moving the fair to Grand Island, would it be ignoring its own consultants, who said a “model” fair would need a population base of at least 300,000?
A: Erdman — First of all, the question is wrong. The consultant didn’t say the fair would need a population base of 300,000 within 30 miles. The consultants’ report listed ideal scenarios for an ideal fair to be successful.
It also listed 450 acres of land to be developed. That’s not an option at any of the sites at the current moment. In fact, if you go to (the Lancaster Event Center site at 84th Street and Havelock Avenue), there is less developable acres there because of flood plain issues ... the actual ability to build is less than the existing State Fair Park. The site in Grand Island has 251 acres, which is similar to State Fair Park.
But again, those are recommendations. They are not requirements.
Q: Is it possible the Legislature could vote to turn State Fair Park over to UNL by a certain year and let the State Fair Board decide where to move the fair?
A: Erdman — It’s possible, but it’s not going to happen. And in the event it would happen, the state would want to have the money the university is paying for State Fair Park up front.
We are not going to evict the state fair. That is not going to happen. LB1044 evicts the state fair. It says the fair will move by a certain date. That is not the conversation we are having.
Q: What kind of timetable might we be talking about? How many years might it take before the fair could be moved to Grand island or elsewhere in Lincoln?
A: Erdman — I don’t know. That’s assuming an answer that hasn’t been given — that the state fair is moving. When a move may happen is going to be based on what the solution is. So that question can’t be answered.
Q: The ag committee’s consultants said more than 80 percent of the people who attend the Nebraska State Fair live no more than 90 miles from Lincoln, and more than half of the total live no more than 30 miles away. Has anyone surveyed Nebraskans to see who would go to a fair in Grand Island?
A: Erdman — Half of the people who live within 30 miles of the fair don’t go to the fair now. People in rural Nebraska would likely travel further to get to a fair than people in Lincoln or Omaha would. People in rural Nebraska are used to traveling, so 60 miles may be a more realistic number than 30 miles if you went to a rural site.
In Kansas, where there is a rural state fair, the penetration rate for the counties surrounding the fair is over 100 percent. Over 100 percent of the people go to the fair.
If you use the same penetration rates in the consultants’ report for an ideal state fair and the current population, you would have 317,000 people attending a fair at Grand island.
If you apply current penetration rates for the fair in Lincoln to a Grand Island site, you’d have 200,000 people going to a fair in Grand island.
We know that 120,000 people go to Husker Harvest Days.
Q: What’s happening with Innovation Park plans as the legislative session goes on?
A: UNL officials have drafted tentative plans for how they might develop the fairgrounds, but until lawmakers actually decide who gets the land, the university says it can do little more than continue to publicly support the research campus — and wait.
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman has said he feels it’s presumptuous to make plans for land he doesn’t yet have.
“Once that decision is made, the excitement starts,” said Prem Paul, UNL vice chancellor for research and economic development.
Q: What if the Legislature fails to act this year?
A: If lawmakers hold off on any fair-related decisions, the fair would stay where it is and UNL essentially would be forced to put its plans on hold until at least next year.
But even though the clock is ticking, inaction seems unlikely. Perlman and Paul are hopeful a decision will come this year.
Paul believes lawmakers understand how critical it is to move forward with Innovation Park as soon as possible, given UNL’s lack of space to expand its thriving research programs.
Q: Could the Legislature’s long decision-making process affect Innovation Park’s success?
A: UNL says no. Last fall, UNL had begun to draw inquiries from private companies interested in locating at Innovation Park and working with university researchers. The interest is still there, Paul said.
Competition among universities for private partners is stiff, he said, especially because a number of other schools are pursuing research campuses at the same time as UNL.
“Because it works.”
Q: If Lincoln loses the fair, can we at least be guaranteed the research park will succeed?
A: Technically, no, and leaders of the State Fair Board who don’t want the fair to move have expressed plenty of doubt a research park would take off. They believe UNL should make do with its current technology park in northwest Lincoln rather than risk taxpayer dollars on a new venture.
UNL says research campuses next door to universities are proven successes, pointing to such examples as North Carolina State University in Raleigh, home to a top-rated technology park.
They acknowledge a research park would be a risk, but say over time — 10 to 20 years or more — the project would benefit Nebraskans with higher-paying jobs, new technological developments and a healthier economy.
“We have to have patience. We need to keep remembering that,” Paul said. “The future looks very good.”
Q: As Grand Island continues to lobby for the fair, what are its strongest arguments?
A: Fonner Park in Grand Island already has some $75 million worth of infrastructure, land and facilities in place, including the 7,500-seat Heartland Event Center, valued at $35 million, a race track and a grandstand.
The city’s pitch to lawmakers included plans for a 100,000-square-foot livestock facility, an exhibition building and two 67,500-square-foot horse barns.
Moving the fair west would help the event return to its agricultural roots and would attract visitors who weren’t willing or able to make the drive to Lincoln, Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday.
“We have folks that have called from Scottsbluff, Basset, that would love to have the opportunity to participate in the State Fair,” Johnson said. “Even for lots of people from Grand Island, that drive (to Lincoln) is too far.”
Q: And its weakest?
A: The fair has been in Lincoln for more than a century, and Lincoln leaders are reluctant to let it slip away. It fair is an economic boon to the city, they say, and a source of tradition, pride and sentiment.
Beyond that, Grand Island must convince lawmakers, the State Fair Board and the public a fair could succeed in a less-populated area.
Johnson says just because her city fails to match the consultants’ report on the population base doesn’t mean it couldn’t successfully host a fair.
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Clyde wrote on March 30, 2008 9:09 am:
ya wrote on March 30, 2008 11:03 am:
Mike McDermott wrote on March 30, 2008 2:38 pm:
Gypsy wrote on March 30, 2008 4:40 pm:
jOE wrote on March 30, 2008 6:20 pm:
Husker Harvest Days does not take place in Grand Island. It is located in a corn field near the Interstate outside of town. Also, it is a private trade show for farmers sponsored by the parent company of the Nebraska Farmer magazine. "
Whatever... wrote on March 30, 2008 9:22 pm:
Eddie wrote on March 31, 2008 9:46 am:
Jasper wrote on March 31, 2008 11:57 am:
I truly think a move is warranted. Lincoln hasn't supported the fair in a number of years (look at attendance) and this may allow the fair to return to its ag roots (like Kansas did). Maybe not as many will go, but it will serve its intended purpose again. "
Clark wrote on April 6, 2008 2:28 pm: