State auditors had a stark and disturbing message for lawmakers recently when they convened to discuss the Colorado State Fair: There is no fix that can cure what ails the fair so long as it remains at its current location in Pueblo.
The fair will continue to lose money and continue to need millions of dollars in state subsidies until lawmakers and the governor face the hard truth: The fair needs a new home — and probably a site closer to the Denver metro area.
Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, was right when he said, “The key to business is location, location, location.”
Pueblo County has about 160,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Denver metro area has about 2.8 million. Pueblo is 112 miles from Denver. It is simply not a sustainable location for the event.
It would be one thing if Pueblo itself had demonstrated an impressive level of commitment to keeping the fair, but that is not the case, either. The city cut funding, decreasing its financial support to $125,000 from $315,000 in 2006. The county contributes $175,000. But county voters in 2013 rejected a sales tax that would have in part gone to support the fair.
By contrast, the state kicked in $2 million last year from various sources to assist the fair.
Over the past decade, the fair’s losses have only seemed to worsen, according to an audit released earlier this year that examined recent fiscal years.
Operating revenue was down from the previous year as well, a decrease attributed to a drop in gate admissions, private sponsorships and exhibitor fees.
Year after year, auditors have told the same story. The fair is not generating enough money and the state is asked again and again to keep it afloat.
The attendance for the 11-day fair has increased slightly in recent years, to 498,720 in 2014 from 474,914 in 2012. But it is not enough.
A move would be sad, but it’s the only way to set the fair permanently on its feet.
The history of the event in Pueblo is well known. In 1869, seven years before Colorado became a state, 2,000 people gathered at a horse exhibition in Pueblo — an event that would later become the Colorado State Fair. The fair has been operating in the city ever since with only one cancellation — in 1917, during World War I, when horse stables became a training facility for the Army National Guard.
Many structures on the fairgrounds are listed with the State Historical Fund.
History, though, cannot generate necessary funds to keep the fair in Pueblo.
The audit report recommended the fair continue to seek more state funds to ensure continued operations. But this is simply not an acceptable long-term solution for this Colorado institution.
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