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That's despite plans by the Elizabethtown Area School District to eventually put athletic facilities on the fairgrounds. School and fair officials said last week that those plans are on the shelf for the time being, and the fair won't have to go shopping for a new location any time soon.
"We're safe, for now," fair secretary Sally Nolt said last week. "They are not going to do anything there for the near future ... so we're not in any immediate danger."
District officials last summer unveiled plans for a new athletic complex on the 40-acre tract, which has been home to the 35-year-old fair for the past 25 years.
The school-owned site along East High Street adjoins the high school/middle school and East High Elementary School campus. Officials said last summer that the land was needed for stadiums, athletic fields and parking.
Fair officials decried the plan, and some said it would force an end to the local tradition.
But the school district's plans are now on hold.
"The fairgrounds certainly are in business for this year, and quite frankly for the foreseeable future," district spokesman Troy Portser said Tuesday.
"We have a multiphase athletic facility master plan that ... is working out toward the fairgrounds," he said. "But I would venture a guess that we are anywhere from 5 to 20 years away. It's nothing imminent."
Improvements to the football stadium and surrounding varsity fields at the high school are the first priority, Portser said. Work on the fairgrounds property is a few steps down on the priority list — and depends largely on the availability of funding.
"We only have a concept plan at this point. We haven't even begun fundraising," he said. "Until then, as long as the fair wants to use that facility, there's no reason not to."
Fair board member Robert Messick said last Monday that the fair has "a great relationship with the school district" and predicted a long partnership.
"Everything's going great, and as far as I know the fair will be there for a long time," he said. "Until they need it, I guess we'll be there. It looks like it will be at least several years."
Nolt said the bigger concern these days is state funding, which has been on the decline in recent years and is at risk of dropping even further in future budgets.
"That's going to put us in real danger," Nolt said. "I don't know how long we operate.
"But we're OK for this year. We're surviving from one year to the next."
The Elizabethtown Fair runs this year from Aug. 24 to 29.
Since 1981, the E-town Fair has built several permanent structures on the grounds. Those structures include four exhibit halls, a main stage, an office, animal complex and a show arena. The fair also makes use of the neighboring Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church for exhibits, and the church lot and lawn for parking.
E-mail: tknapp@lnpnews.com
