NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair Board will allow Phil Nightingale of Mel Hambleton Ford and anyone else interested in preserving the half mile oval at the Kansas State Fairgrounds the time to put together a formal proposal. Long-time promoter C. Ray Hall has also written a letter with a proposal as well. If they are properly filed with the Fair Board by October 31, those proposals and any others filed properly by that date will be heard at the November Fair Board meeting, which will take place November 14.
"I do think it is a very, very fair thing to do to hear the proposals that are going to get brought in front of us in the November meeting," said Fair Board member Dylan Evans. "I think the most important thing that we have to remember is to make sure this is fiscally responsible for the Kansas State Fair and the state of Kansas. The numbers right now that we have been presented technically do not show that it is fiscally responsible for us to be doing. I believe this is something that, when the proposal is made to us, we need to make sure how these numbers are proven to us, or that, if there is a monetary fund given at that time. That would be the only way this would be a fiscally responsible decision for us."
All Fair Board members present for the meeting voted in favor of hearing proposals in November. However, there will not be a separate meeting for those interested in the track outside of the regularly scheduled Fair Board meeting. The Board said that meeting will be on the Fairgrounds, but the venue has not been finalized yet.
State Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Republican who has the Fairgrounds in his legislative district, said that the Legislature kind of has both a stick and a carrot that it could offer to keep the track open.
"The legislature can make a proviso in the budget that no state money can be spent on the demolition of the Fair track in Hutchinson," Waggoner said. "That's another way we can do this."
Waggoner did say that if the cost estimate of $3.5 million to fix the track floated by Fair Manager Bryan Schulz last week is close to a real number, he would be willing to support a bill to have the state kick in for an amount to finish the project, if promoters could get substantial front end private investment to show that there is enough business support to make the track a long-term viable concern.
"I think it would be a decent investment, as far as in the future, given that we probably haven't spent a dime on it in the last two generations," Waggoner said. "We just put in $1.5 million doing the asphalt over the roads here and $1 million into a public address system. That type of money, given the current situation in Topeka, with the budget, where we're flush with cash, this would be a great time to be asking for it. I would certainly support that."
It will be important for anyone who wants to speak to the board regarding the track to be present at the November meeting. Hutch Post and other local media will receive an agenda for that meeting the week before and we'll put out the time and location once it is publicly released.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.