The State Fair Board and the university are no longer in a stalemate over discussing whether to put a research park at State Fair Park and move the fair, said Tam Allan, a State Fair Board member.

Earlier, Allan said the board didn’t want to even consider moving.

Now most state leaders seem to agree the University of Nebraska-Lincoln should put its research park at State Fair Park.

But it’s not clear where the fair will go — and who will pay for the move.

The discussion could perhaps best be described as a shotgun marriage, Allan said Tuesday during a meeting of residents and senators representing Lincoln and Lancaster County.

State Sen. Phil Erdman, chairman of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee, said he hopes those involved find a solution by Feb. 26, the day his committee will hold public hearings on all State Fair-related bills.  

And if there is no consensus by then, Erdman said he would personally pursue a solution that “may not be to anyone’s benefit.”

But it is important to resolve the State Fair location issue soon, he said, because it’s not fair to the fair, the university or the state to drag out discussions.

Though it seems clear many state leaders have decided UNL ought to build a research park at State Fair Park, the debate over where the fair should move and who will pay the costs is still raging.

Suggestions for a new site center on two potential locations — Grand Island and east Lincoln at the Lancaster County Event Center site.

“We are not anti-university. We are not anti-growth. We do not want to be in the way of the future of the university. But anything we talk about is going to cost a lot of money,” Allan said during the meeting that was billed as a chance to talk about the fair.

The State Fair Board is not going to use a bond to finance buildings on a fair site, and is not going to ask the Legislature for taxpayer dollars, he reminded the group.

“Any relocation has got to be financially feasible. We cannot go into debt,” he said.

Allan also said the State Fair Board has received “interesting offers” of financial help by partnering with legalized gambling. But that is not what the board wants to do, he said.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.