A legislative committee on Monday recommended moving the Nebraska State Fair to Grand Island, clearing the way for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to convert State Fair Park to a research and development campus.
MELISSA LEE and ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, March 30, 2008 7:00 pm
Progress at last.
A legislative committee on Monday approved a compromise on the future home of the State Fair that its members hope will appease each dueling party in a very public, very heated 18-month-old battle.
By a 7-1 vote, the Agriculture Committee advanced a bill that would move the fair from its century-old location in Lincoln to Grand Island within two years at a cost of $42 million.
That figure includes $21.5 million from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and $5 million from the state.
If passed, the bill — finalized this weekend under the leadership of ag committee chairman Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard — will clear the way for the University of Nebraska to convert the north-Lincoln fairgrounds into a research and development campus.
The full Legislature now has 10 working days to consider the bill, which was applauded by Gov. Dave Heineman, NU President J.B. Milliken and Cindy Johnson, executive director of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce.
It was met with less enthusiasm by fair officials, who reacted to Monday’s news with a mixture of relief, regret and determination to put on the best fair possible, no matter its address.
Fair Board President Jerry Fitzgerald of Gering was careful to sprinkle the word “if” into virtually every consequence of moving.
“I think the big thing, we prefer to stay where we’re at,” Fitzgerald said, “and I’ve made no bones about that. But it’s been so difficult to try to do anything at the fairgrounds with the university, with the pressure the university put on and some of the city people.
“I don’t want to say all of them, but certain members of the Lincoln community. And we’ve not been able to do some things we’ve wanted to do out there.”
In moving to Grand Island, the fair board would leave behind buildings insured for $72 million.
“That is its replacement value,” he said. “And so, when they say the university is only going to have to pay $21.5 million, in my mind, they’re short.”
In becoming the Ag Committee’s favorite option, Grand Island had to up its proposed cash contribution from $5 million to $8.5 million.
Johnson said that money would come from a combination of public and private sources.
Although obviously in an upbeat mood, Johnson did not sound bowled over by the committee vote. “It was in line with where we thought this was headed as we inch along toward our goal.”
Contingency plans are in place for construction to begin about as quickly as the full Legislature acts on a financing package, if necessary, Johnson said.
Barney Cosner, executive director of the fair, said a key development that gave the Grand Island plan traction, beyond its promoters’ careful attention to detail, was the stated preference of officials from the Lancaster Event Center.
As a prospective neighbor to a fair at 84th and Havelock in Lincoln, they didn’t want to board race horses during the horse-racing season now hosted at State Fair Park. That’s because they said they needed the space for their own horse show venues.
After that Feb. 26 development, said Cosner, “it didn’t take long to narrow the field.”
Monday’s compromise capped a passionate debate over the fair’s future that began 1½ years ago, when a group of Lincoln business leaders called 2015 Vision proposed moving the fair to the event center so NU could build a research park just north of its City Campus.
As the university and 2015 Vision pushed for a move, members of the State Fair Board strongly resisted, saying relocation would be too costly.
With Grand Island stepping up its pitch to host the fair, Lincoln mounted a fight to keep it. When the fair board rejected the event center option, Mayor Chris Beutler floated a plan to move the fair to an alternative site in Lincoln, saying there’s room in the Capital City for both the fair and the research park.
Beutler continues to believe that, saying in a prepared statement: “It is clear from the consultant’s report that the fair’s future viability is best served in Lincoln.”
But Fonner Park in Grand Island is now the clear front-runner, with Johnson saying her city could be ready to host the fair in two years.
To foot the $42 million bill, NU would be responsible for $21.5 million. Part of that would come from the NU Foundation, Milliken said.
Grand Island would contribute $8.5 million, the fair board would contribute $7 million and the state would chip in $5 million.
That investment would pave the way for what NU calls Nebraska Innovation Park, a public-private development supporters say would create high-paying jobs, speed technological advances and stimulate the state’s economy.
If the Legislature approves LB1116, specific planning on the research campus would begin immediately, Milliken said.
“That’s what we have been waiting for, and that’s a very exciting development for Nebraska,” he said.
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman called Monday’s development “a major step forward.”
“I’m very pleased that there is at least a prospect of the university acquiring State Fair Park,” he said.
But Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, who cast the lone vote against the bill, said NU hasn’t convinced him a research park would be a financial success.
Beyond tentative drawings, the university hasn’t offered specifics on its plans for Innovation Park, Karpisek said. And he believes NU hasn’t shown enough initiative exploring alternative locations for a research campus.
“That has kind of irritated me throughout this whole process,” he said.
Karpisek also said he’d vowed all along to support keeping the fair where it is, as that was the cheapest option.
Perlman says the university would be presumptuous to develop specific plans for land it doesn’t yet have. And Milliken said NU has looked at numerous examples of research campuses across the nation and concluded that the most successful are located next door to a school’s main campus.
“We are confident that (Innovation Park) will be a success, or we wouldn’t be investing in this in terms of time and resources,” Milliken said.
Tonn Ostergard, a member of 2015 Vision, admitted disappointment the fair isn’t headed to the event center but said he’s “thrilled” Innovation Park is one step closer to becoming a reality.
“That’s the victory we really need to focus on,” he said.
Lawmakers hope all parties are taking a similar approach.
Shepherding a compromise in the State Fair debate proved so tough, in fact, that Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha suggested Erdman now head to Washington to help President Bush bring about peace in the Middle East.
Erdman’s wry response: “It may be easier to negotiate the issue in Iraq than this one.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com. Reach Art Hovey at 473-7223 or ahovey@journalstar.com.