SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair not only wants to be Kansas' largest classroom, but also Kansas' safest.
Kansas State Fair general manager Bryan Schulz ensures that the addition of new cameras and security features on the fairgrounds should provide peace of mind.
"When you drive on State Fair Road, yes we do have new cameras out there, just for fair time," Schulz said. "We will have three cameras located in lots A and B, and they're already out there. Then we'll have two cameras in lot C. They're there for the protection of the people that are here."
The fair annually brings in over 300,000 visitors for the ten day event, including 330,044 last fall.
"The last Saturday of last year during the fair we had over 60,000 people on the grounds," Schulz said. "There is times where somebody is going to bump into your car and they're going to leave, and if we have a rough idea of where it is we can zoom in with these cameras. It's a protection piece as well."
Schulz is gearing up for his third year as the Kansas State Fair general manager and has continued to make safety one of his top priorities.
"Two years ago we invested almost $300,000 in cameras," Schulz said. "This year we did another probably close to a $100,000 in cameras, so we have about 69 cameras on the grounds. They have definitely paid for themself already."
The cameras in the parking lots do have the capability of scanning license plates.
"The reason we put the license plate readers on there is because at night when people come and go," Schulz said. "Then all of a sudden we have something happening, well we can see them on a camera and we can see a license plate. So one plus one equals you might be going to jail."
One more feature the cameras have are the ability to scan faces.
"We do have the ability to scan somebody's picture if we needed to," Schulz said. "We're using that more for the lost child or lost parent."
With the Kansas State Fair beginning in two weeks, Schulz and his staff are in final preparation mode.
"Now is where the rubber meets the road," Schulz said. "Final mowings are underway, starting to set up all the entertainment areas, all that kind of stuff, so now is when it gets really crazy busy."
The 2024 Kansas State Fair is Sept. 6-15. To learn more information, click here.