The Lane County Board of Commissioners@@http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/BCC/Pages/default.aspx@@ decided last Wednesday to keep the Lane County Fair in its current location at East 13th Avenue and Jefferson Street for the time being.@@http://www.atthefair.com/@@
The board had been considering moving the location out to West Eugene but ultimately decided the move was not viable at this time. The decision came after fairgrounds director Rick Reno@@http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27117471-41/county-fairgrounds-board-reno-lane.html.csp@@ presented almost 300 pages of studies about the challenges currently facing the fairgrounds.
“By consensus the decision was to keep going with the current location and abandon studies for moving the fairgrounds and essentially keep going with the Lane Events Center in the exposition industry as a flat-space rental facility,” Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson said.@@http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/BCC/SouthEugene/Pages/default.aspx@@
Some of the challenges the fairgrounds are dealing with are lack of revenue, need for repairs and neighboring residents opposing potentially more noise and traffic to the area.
“The advantages to being at some other location would be that you would not be surrounded on all four sides by residents. You would find a place that was easily accessible, hopefully off a main artery,” Reno said.
The fairground, officially called the Lane Events Center, hosts more than 300 events a year, such as the Oregon Logging Conference, a recreational vehicle show, the Holiday Market and the Oregon Wedding Showcase. A property near Jerry’s Home Improvement Center@@http://www.betterheadforjerrys.com/@@ near Highway 99 and Beltline was the most recently considered site.
Fairground neighbor Mary Saunders is happy the fairground is not moving.@@could be http://www.oregoncda.us/id4.html@@
“I love the fairgrounds here. I love that they can use it year-round, especially for the holiday market,” she said. “The access here is nice if you’re biking. It’s easy to get to.”
Still, the fairgrounds are in need of repair, with some buildings 30 to 60 years old. Upgraded repairs and new buildings could cost up to $13.5 million.@@http://projects.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27117471-41/county-fairgrounds-board-reno-lane.html.csp@@
“As each generation has moved along, the capital improvements that have been sustained to run the necessary facilities have suffered from the lack of funding,” Reno said. “If we stay here for an extended amount of time, then we need to try to find a way to reduce our costs or increase our revenues needs.”
The fairground has struggled financially in the last decade. The complex has been hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt as operating costs were outpacing revenue. Since Reno became director in 2008, revenue at the fairground has increased to some extent. Reno succeeded in doubling revenue from the fair while cutting staff and other operating expenses.
Even so, Reno said in his report that major renovations the fairgrounds need can only be funded through county support. The fairgrounds are currently subsidized by a small amount of county taxes. Both a gas tax and a transient room tax, levied on people when they stay in a hotel or a campground, help support the fairground.
Despite the problems with the current location, Sorenson made it clear Wednesday that the fairgrounds will not be moved in the near future. He feels moving the fairgrounds now would not be in best for the community right now.
“Ultimately, I don’t think that moving it is in the long-term interest of the Lane County community,” Sorenson said. “The problem is that the cost of moving it exceeds whatever projections or benefits there might be. So in terms of net economic benefit, I would say the move is not worth it.”