McMahon: Fair deal
Nov 9, 2010, 6:43 PM | Updated: Jun 5, 2012, 3:27 am
Congratulations to the Arizona State Fair for a big comeback in attendance. After a down year, the fair’s back up over a million in spite of being dark for two days each week.
That having been said, I truly believe that the fair folks could double that with a new fairgrounds in Maricopa County.
I know it’s been discussed since Tom Mix was the rodeo headliner, but something needs to be done about moving the property to a less locked-in urban neighborhood and expanding the size to something comparable to other state fairs. Right now, that area between McDowell and Encanto is so jammed, the sheep in the livestock exhibit are stoop-shouldered.
Now, before you begin talking about this being a lousy time to add any major expenses to our fractured state budget, can you imagine how much the state would get if it sold all those acres to a group of industrial bidders? And, as far as the Coliseum is concerned, there are so many better show venues in the Valley, perhaps it’s time to say farewell to the “Madhouse on McDowell.”
