" Good luck, GI. The slow, painful death of the State Fair is underway. Actually, maybe it won't be slow. "

" So the Nebraska State Fair is actually going to be owned by Fonner Park. Hope you can make the payments on your 1 building, or Wells Fargo could close you down for default. You've reduced the Nebraska State Fair down to a 50,000 sq ft building less than the size of the existing Lancaster County Event Center. Great job GI (said sarcastically). "

" If you do any research before posting, you would see that this is just the exhibition building. There will be other buildings. Looking forward to see what else is planned. (no sarcasim) "

" The State Fair is over after next year. It is too bad this was shoved down our throats by the powers that be. "

" You Eastern Nebraskans come to the Iowa State Fair. Attendance topped the million mark this year. Do not worry, we still have room for you. "

" Change can be a good thing but there will always be negative people. I think Grand Island will be great for the fair and it will be great for the city as well. Lincoln seemed to be taking the fair for granted and I think Grand Island and all the surrounding communities will put the right spirit back into the fair. "

" The state fair will soon be smaller than the Lancaster County fair and then will fade away into the history books. We can thank UNL for their greed and intimidation of the Fair Board. Lincoln won't profit from the tech park and UNL knows it. It's all a smoke screen to get what they want. "

" Where were YOU all those years the fair struggled to even stay alive. Were YOU out actively campaigning to keep the fair alive? I bet not. Cry and moan all you want. Stay home, pout, be childish. Bottom line is, there is life outside of Lincoln and AND living out west as I do.....there is EXCITEMENT about the move. When they build it WE WILL show up to support the fair. Stay home...nobody out here wants to clean up after a bunch of babies anyways! "

" Hey all you "half-full" types... give it a rest. I'm sick of hearing you bellyache about the fair. Move on. You'll sleep better at night. And I won't have to read through all of your negative posts.

I truly feel the State Fair downsized and refocused won't be all bad. Go with what works, start slow and build for the future. So what if its not attended by 2 million people... at least it will truly be a fair for the ENTIRE state, not just Lincoln. "

" It will be so nice to get this area of town cleaned up finally. "

" The Lincoln State Fair is over after next year, the Nebraska State Fair will continue. "

" Personally, I have always thought the NSF was a joke. The buildings are horrible due to lack of maintenance, and the streets and infrastructure are just as bad or even worse. Not to mention the rides are death traps. I hope there is some better leadership in GI who can keep a handle on maintaining things and ensuring the rides are decent. Regardless, I may just have to take Clarence up on his offer to go to the Iowa State Fair. "

" In researching this, I discovered that GI's only contribution to the fair planned is one 50,000 sq ft building. There are existing bldgs at fonner park, however, the only NEW building that GI is contributing is one. Heartland Events Center, adjacent to Fonner Park, has only 30,000 sq ft floor space. And obviously, since GI is anticipating a large crowd, how are they going to fit all the exhibits into a small bldg along with thousands of people (said sarcastically). Of course, there will probably be other buildings, but built by he State of Nebraska taxpayers money. I'm not even sure this is legal, since technically the buildings will be on Fonner Park land? "

" The state fair will be just fine in GI, get over it. "

" i am so sad to see the state fair go. this is one awesome event my family and i look forward to going to every single year... why?????
what does GI have that we dont?
I guess we will be seeing you Clarence at the Iowa State Fair! maybe a change of scenery will do us good! NE.. hope your decision was the right one! "

" Give G.I. a try Eastern Nebraska. Support YOUR State Fair! "

" So the fair isn't going to own any of the buildings? I guess they won't have any year around income then, none from horse racing, and I suppose they will have to pay Fonner rent? Their only income will be what they profit during the State Fair and what they get from the lottery. By the time they pay their director and assistant director their salaries, that will eat up about $200,000.00 (as I'm sure they won't take any cuts) plus pay the board expenses for traveling and lodging every month and every other time they travel anywhere, plus the hundreds of employees they will have to hire at minimum wage for the State Fair, I doubt there will be much leftover after fair expenses for entertainment or anything very exciting to draw a crowd. I do believe we will see the end of the Nebraska State Fair once it moves away from Lincoln, home of the Nebraska State Capitol. "

" I like the idea of the state fair being in central Nebraska. I will drive from Lincoln to attend. The only hangup will be a shortage of hotel rooms. But that will be taken care of as the area grows. Opportunities to start over and build new from the ground up don't come along very often lets make it spectacular. "

" I have gone to the State Fair every year of my life. Next year will be my last. I talked to many many people at the Fair and the people who exhibit are not going to GI. So right off the bat the Fair will be considerably smaller. Also, many superintendents and judges are not going. The fact is Grand Island does not have the population to support a State Fair. The fact is the powers that be do not care. All they wanted was the State Fairgrounds they did not care one bit about the traditions of the Nebraska State Fair. I predict this will come back to haunt them. I know many people said they will no longer give any money to the University. This issue should have been voted on. The fact is the Fair was improving at its historic grounds. With the lottery money improvements were being made. Maybe we should get to vote on the lottery money again. Because when we voted to give 10% of the lottery money to support the Fair we were talking about the Fair at the State Fairgrounds in Lincoln. Will they at least let us vote on that? The powers that be got their way, but the end result will not be good for the whole state. Watch out taxpayers!!! "

" OMG, someone from lincoln who will support the fair. "

" I'll admit it...
I wont let my grandchildren go to a FALSE State Fair in GI.
The State Fair will go down in the history books as a fair held in Lincoln after it FAILS in GI.
I Loved being able to drive less than 3 miles to it and wont support it in GI. "

" I guess it is always easier to put down things that you don't know anything about. If you like the State Fair, support it in Grand Island, but please do not put down the people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into a 140 year old tradition. It is unfortunate that the State Fair will be moved from State Fair Park, but it is not dying, it is not going away, and the only way to be sure of that is to continue to support it. I am sure that more than 1 of you have taken the time and money to see a concert or go to the boats in Iowa, so why would you not go the couple extra miles to support YOUR Nebraska State Fair. The only reason it will not flourish is becuase of the negative people who believe that the world revolves around them and their ideals, it doesn't. I, as a Lincolnite will be more than happy to visit the New Nebraska State Fair. A new location will mean new venues, new buildings, a fresh start, new good ideas, the ability for people who may not have previously been able and now are to patronize the event. Stop looking for something to complain about and either get over it or shut up. "

" Why don't you blame the State Fair Board instead? Don't you think if the NSF was a viable, profitable, tourist attraction similiar to the IA SF, it would be a no-brainer for the legislature to leave it alone? Don't you think if it didn't require an infusion of lottery money every year it would be left alone? Don't you think that if the Fair Board had been managing it properly over the last decade or so and kept up the maintence, added new attractions, and kept it updated, it would still be there? Perhaps more people would have attended if it weren't left to languish in the '80s constantly? Is what killed the Fair was being ignored by the Fair Board (the members only sought seats on the Board so they could impress their friends) and the big killer was NO ATTRACTIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE! Somehow it never dawned on them that the Fair was in Lincoln, and near Omaha, and not in Kearney, Scottsbluff, or GI (yet). Think about it. UNL saw the opportunity to kick out the dying dog and do something with at least more profit potential.

Is common-sense a thing of the past now? "

" Why wait another year! Move the fair next year. I've been waiting for years for the fair to be moved where it should have been all along! I can't wait for the NEBRASKA State Fair! "

" So you attended the Nebraska State Fair every year of your life but all of a sudden you will stop? Is that loyalty? Is that what Nebraska values boil down to? Because they move the fair west 100 miles all of a sudden your lifelong loyalty is tested? And fails the test?

Sounds more to me that as long as its convenient, your loyal. I believe we call people who operate that way "fair weather friends."

Really, I hope all of you grieving Lincolnites get through this funk and realize that Nebraska is more than just LINCOLN, and the Nebraska State Fair belongs to ALL OF US. "

" I am looking forward to the State Fair being in GI! And I bet it will be just as good, if not better than in the past. People do live west of Omaha and Lincoln, and they know how to travel outside of their own city limits. The less I see of Omaha and Lincoln the better! "