Fairgrounds may move to Great Park

Alicia Robinson

The state-owned Orange County Fairgrounds would be sold and fair

operations relocated to the planned Great Park at the closed El Toro

Marine Air Base under a proposal by 70th District Assemblyman John

Campbell to help balance the state budget.

Campbell pitched the idea Friday in an e-mail newsletter sent to

constituents. He estimates the 170-acre property could fetch as much

as $300 million. Legislators are considering the sale of other

state-owned properties including the L.A. Coliseum and San

Francisco’s Cow Palace to fill budget holes.

The fair has been held on the Costa Mesa fairgrounds for at least

50 years, fair President Becky Bailey-Findley said. Fair operations

are now controlled by a state board appointed by the governor, but

under Campbell’s plan control would be turned over to the Orange

County Board of Supervisors.

The idea provoked interest but also raised a variety of questions

among local officials.

Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan said he would like to see local

control of the fair, but not at the cost of relocating it to Irvine,

where El Toro is located. The city could not afford to buy the entire

fairgrounds site, which could be worth up to $2 million an acre, but

the land could be sold to the county or Costa Mesa could buy part of

it to build a sports complex, he said.

“To have local control of the fair would be a phenomenal

improvement in the way of operations, in the way of just cutting

bureaucracy,” Monahan said.

While Costa Mesa doesn’t make a pile of money from the

fairgrounds, Monahan said, events there bring many visitors over the

course of the year who spend money at local businesses, and the

grounds serve local schools, charities and youth organizations --

assets he doesn’t want to lose.

“Obviously our first choice is not that the venue moves,” he said.

Fair officials are interested in being part of the Great Park, but

only to add to the facilities they have in Costa Mesa, Bailey-Findley

said.

“From the business side of it we would have to investigate whether

moving to a new site and building a new fairgrounds would truly save

the state any money,” she said.

The fair board has considered building a 35-acre horse ranch at

the Great Park, a project estimated to cost about $40 million,

Bailey-Findley said.

As to the state turning over control of the fair to the county,

she said, “it is something obviously that the board would need to

evaluate and spend time analyzing.”

While the idea is still only preliminary, a flood of feedback can

be expected. A Campbell aide said more than 50 responses to the

assemblyman’s e-mail came in Friday.

Campbell said if people are interested in the plan he’d like to

get it into this year’s budget, but movement on it could be slow

because hammering out the details of the Great Park and selling state

lands will take some time.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].