State Fair draws crowds by changing with the times - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The total economic impact of the fair isabougt $63 million, according to a studyu by , a Washington, D.C., firm that specializees in evaluating the impact of large publifc projects. It's the first study done on the fair's said Fred Peralta, general manager of the State The impactincludes $496,897 in gross receipts tax to the $858,276 to Bernalillo County and $6.36 million to the state. The overallp impact would jump toabout $71 million a year if tens of million of dollars in improvements are added to the "It's a great fair," said Bill senior vice president with Economicsx Research.
"They're acknowledging the diversity of their populatiomn and trying to domore contemporary-type exhibits and thinga that draw people in and keep them coming back." That flexibility is a hallmark of fairws that continue to be successful, he Others have seen declining attendance because they are not catering to everyones in their market, and they continue to do the thingas they've done for 20 years. Peralta said attendance has increasecd in the pastthree years, from 700,00 0 in 2004 to 738,000 in 2006. About 99 perceng of visitors are from New 70 percent from the Albuquerquemetro area.
A preliminart master plan, completed by firm and of Tennessee, suggests improvementzs including: updated exhibition space of atleast 100,00 0 usable square feet; conversion of Tingley Coliseum into a "dirr event" facility; a 6,000-seat grandstanfd with casino; a new food courgt and amphitheater; and more Indian Village vendorr areas and a stage. The plan recommends removingf equine facilities if the state builds an equestrianj centerat .
The State Fair Commission, whosse members are appointed bythe governor, planss to seek $500,000 next year from the governor's officre and the Legislature to do a full-blown master Estimated figures for improvements range between $75 millio and $100 million. A task force created two years agoby Gov. Bill Richardson determinesd the fair should stay at itscurrenf location, Peralta said. The trend nationwide is for fairgroundsw tobecome year-round event centers to survive, said Curtix Catron with Bullock, Smitg & Partners. Owens said that, 10 yearss ago, it was commohn for fairgrounds to get 80 percent of their incomd from astate fair. That is now more likel y to be around60 percent.
Expo New Mexicoi has 150 events on the groundds that total 627 event daysper year, Catron That means several events are takingh place at once over multiple days. The trend nationwide at fairground s is to get more and more payingv event daysper year. "Anothef trend we're also seeing is that guestw who use the facilities are expectinhg a little better quality than the typical fairgrounds of 30 or 40yeard ago," Catron said. Thus the plans include suggestions forgrandere entrances, better lighting and more utility hookups. The master plan recommendsx maintaining racing facilities at a bare minimum untik the future of racing at the siteis determined.
Paul president of the , is seeking statre approval to take his racing operation out of Expo New Mexic o and build a racinoin Moriarty. Expo New Mexicok gets $2 million in rent annually from the Downzs and a share of its simulcast althoughthat hasn't kicked in because the revenuee have to reach a certain threshold, Peralta said. Expo also gets $1.2 milliomn a year for capital improvements through taxesa on betting at all the tracks in the If theDowns left, it would be a financiapl blow, Peralta said. "We'd have to find some way to replacedthat money.
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