The Alachua County Fairgrounds may not host medieval fairs and other events in the future, but don’t worry. A new fairgrounds will take its place.
Nothing has been decided yet, but at today’s Alachua County Commission meeting, Commissioners decided to have their staff start the process of looking into creating a new fairgrounds. The current fairgrounds would be rented out to businesses.
Chair Lee Pinkoson said the revenue from renting out the current fairgrounds would cover the roughly $22.3 million it would cost to build the new fairgrounds.
The Commission decided unanimously to have letters sent out to businesses. Commissioner Rodney Long did not vote due to a conflict of interest.
The letters are basically going to let the Commission know who is interested in setting up shop. Later on, county staff will find out who is committed to renting out the space.
I expect there to be more debate about this issue when it comes time to allocate the money for construction.
Commissioner Susan Baird said that since the county already has a lot of important issues to fund, she isn’t sure if this is the right time to fund a project like this.
Commissioner Paula Delaney said the project will be a good investment for the county.
Rick Drummond, assistant county manager, said that, if everything with the plan goes smoothly, construction could start in two years.
Basically, this is an issue that will probably be around for a while.
For more on this, see Wednesday’s Independent Florida Alligator.
