By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Members of the legislature are working on ways to save the state fair.

State Rep. Fred Durhall (D-Detroit) said the fairgrounds are in need of $14 million-$17 million for rehabilitation of the property, along Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in Detroit, and that he and others in the legislature are looking for methods to get the money.
“The legislature has an interest in saving the state fair and we are actively working with the Senate on the issue,” Durhall said. He is chair of the Michigan House Subcommittee on General Government and is leading the effort to keep the fair.

He said $1 million is needed in order to keep the fair going through 2010, but after that a “public-private partnership” will be needed to keep it alive. According to Durhall, Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s plan is to turn the century-old fairgrounds location into a strip mall.

“That’s her plan, that’s not my plan,” he said. “I would be against any plan to bring retail development to the fair.”

He stated, however, that he would not be against some retail development at the site as long as it helps fund the yearly event at its current location rather than displace it. There has been some talk of the event being moved, but Durhall said, “There’s no plan that we have for moving it at all. It’s been where it’s been all this time. Why move it?”

Steven Jenkins was the general manager of the state fair for several years until last February, when he gave up the position so he could speak out against Granholm’s plans for the fairgrounds and her plan to eliminate funding for the event.

“I felt so strongly about it,” he said. “I believe the Governor’s position is such a wrong position. It’s an ill thought-out plan. In fact, I don’t think there is a plan. There has been no thought given to the impact of the decision.”

Jenkins said his former job as well as all funding for the fair has been eliminated from the Governor’s budget request for 2010, but he said it’s his understanding that $1 million has been included in the legislature’s budget for the fair for 2010.

“I’m buoyed by the fact that the legislature has included funding for the next year,” he said.

But he also stated he’s concerned that the longer it takes to get an agreement, the longer vendors as well as fair employees will be left wondering whether money will actually be available after Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Jenkins said in recent years the fair has become better organized and has been bleeding less money.

“The frustrating part for me and many others who want to save the fair is that there are many ways to fund it,” Jenkins said. “They have convinced (Granholm) that the property could be sold and that outsiders could come in and develop a job hub for the area.”
The Governor may have the last say in the matter. Since she has the authority to line-item veto a budget bill, she could veto the appropriation for the fair and force the legislature to try and override it, which would require a two-thirds majority. Granholm’s office refused to answer any questions about her plans for the fairgrounds, instead directing all inquiries to the Department of Management and Budget.

A spokeswoman there said little except that the land hadn’t been sold or leased yet.

Robert Porter, former mayor of Ferndale, Mich., is now the state fair’s general manager for the rest of the year. “At this point we don’t know of anything happening with the fair,” he said. “There are some proposals for funding that I have seen. It’s up in the air.”

Porter offered one bit of good news: Although premiums were cut out of the budget for the 2009 fair, the fair’s management has been able to keep them in. Thus, prizes of money for livestock and community arts competitions will still be awarded. Porter said these prizes help defray the costs that people inevitably incur when they get involved in the competitions.