IN SHORT: Board isn’t sure it can make the financial commitment, so
Jacksonville might do its own fair.
By Sarah Campbell
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville has given the state fair board 45 days to accept the city’s revised two-year-old offer of 450 acres off Hwy. 161 and I-440, plus a 200,000-square-foot events center.
The board, which is considering moving the fair from Little Rock, met Thursday morning to hear a presentation from Mayor Gary Fletcher.
Fletcher told The Leader on Friday, “I didn’t get a definite answer, but I didn’t expect one. What it did for Jacksonville was get the ball rolling again. All the momentum stopped after the (North Little Rock) sales tax. They’re going to have to step out on faith. I don’t know of anything I can offer them after that (45 days) to give them any more comfort.”
North Little Rock voters last month rejected raising their sales tax by a penny. The fair board was waiting to see if the city would purchase 2,000 acres with the sales tax revenue and invite the state fair to be the main tenant there.
Fletcher said the meeting was the first time the board had heard about the city wanting to construct a 200,000-square-foot events center on the property, a venture the city has investors lined up for.
City officials have spoken to Jerry Murphy, operator of Murphy Brothers Expositions, a leader in amusement rides and fair management. He said he could put on a 10 day regional show that would generate $5 to $6 million, including $750,000 for Jacksonville plus taxes (about another $75,000 to $100,000).
The mayor went to fair chairman Ned Ray Purtle on Wednesday and got the impression that he was intrigued.
“Jacksonville’s partnership with the state fair could work like how vendors rent space at the mall,” Fletcher said. “That way it’s a win-win.”
His other point was the city will have a fair, regardless of whether it is the state fair or a Mid-America Regional Fair, and it has investors to back up the alternative plan.
Fletcher told the board, “All fear can do is paralyze you. I need to move on. I’m fairly nervous. I’m trying to be nice about it, but I’ve got to be blunt, too. I’m a cautious man, but I have not one iota of caution about putting a fair there. We need to get somewhere serious in this debate.”
The board questioned the city’s ownership of the land. The mayor explained that it is in the process of acquiring the property through eminent domain from Entergy.
Fletcher said later that Entergy had wanted to trade land with the city but had backed off because of “political pressures.”
“I don’t want to drag it out. Investment has to have certainty. They (the board) don’t have near the motivation to have a decision that we do. It does not benefit Jacksonville to wait. In the long run, it does not benefit them to wait. They’ve got some hope. I’m excited about our potential. We can’t drop an opportunity because they deny an opportunity,” Fletcher said.
Purtle was supportive of Jacksonville’s plan, stressing that the high price tag the board fears could be greatly reduced.
A recent study said the cost to relocate would be $60 million, but Fletcher disputes that because it includes things Jacksonville is willing to include in the donation of the land. Members voted to allow Ralph Shoptaw, general manager at the Arkansas Livestock Association, to work with Fletcher on figuring out the money issues.
The board’s annual budget is about $4 million.
“The state fair is not a cash cow. We need to figure out how we’re going to pay for this. We can come up with a footprint of what we need,” Purtle said.
He also cautioned, “Can we afford to relocate, or do we stay here? We’re trying to be cautious about not going out on a limb.”
Fletcher said he understood the financial concerns, but that it could be done over a period of time.
“Our generation wants it instantaneous and with no pain. Sometimes the journey is more exciting than the destination,” he added.
Shoptaw has consistently noted that the board must carefully consider its options. He mentioned that it doesn’t want to be in the same situation as the Virginia State Fair, which financed $95 million to pay for relocation. That fair filed for bankruptcy this month after it couldn’t make a $97,000 monthly payment.
Purtle said that not all of the livestock barns have to be fully enclosed, and some buildings can be metal instead of brick. The state fair has about 330,000 square feet combined in all its buildings.
The events center would be about two-thirds of what is already in place at the location in Little Rock on Roosevelt Road. It could accommodate between 80 and 85 percent of all events that are held in the United States and a Ferris wheel for an indoor winter fair if one part of the ceiling was built high enough for it.
Jacksonville Director of Administration Jim Durham said the events center would cost about $10 million, but the utility of the building would repay investors without accruing a massive amount of debt.
He added that the city’s community center is booked all year, and it turns away as many events as it books. Those events could be directed to the events center after it is built.
The fair’s current home consists of 148 acres. State fairs across the nation average 366 acres.
Also, crime – or the perception of it – keeps potential visitors away from the fairgrounds, according to the study. It cited police reports, various crime statistics and even complaints by state fair management.
The fairgrounds have been on Roosevelt Road in Little Rock since opening in the 1940s.
The impact of the state fair would be enormous for Jacksonville, officials hope. It could bring about 85 percent of 5,000 jobs and as many as 400 non-fair events to the city.
