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Plans unveiled for new Nebraska State Fair siteLINCOLN, Neb. (AP)--Final plans for the new home of the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island include a 250,000-square-foot livestock building that organizers say will be the largest of its kind in the Midwest. The plans were unveiled Oct. 24 by fair and Fonner Park officials. Under a new law, the fair will move from its 107-year home in Lincoln to Grand Island by 2010. That will empty the current fairgrounds for development by the University of Nebraska. The fair will take up residence at Fonner Park, which will undergo $42 million in improvements. Fair Board President Jerry Fitzgerald said there's a lot of work to do, but he expects Fonner Park to become one of the nation's top venues. Fitzgerald said additions at the site will not interfere with the existing operations of the race track or the adjacent Heartland Events Center. The new livestock building will include room for cattle, sheep and goats, as well as a temperature-controlled exhibition arena. "We are unaware of another facility in the country that has these elements under one roof," Fitzgerald said. Other buildings planned for the site include several large exhibition buildings and a swine barn. University officials lobbied hard to get the current fairgrounds, which are next to the Lincoln campus. The university wants the land for a cluster of public research facilities that will attract high-tech companies capitalizing on university research. As part of the relocation plan, the university will pay almost half of the $42 million cost of the move. Grand Island will pitch in $8.5 million; the fair board, $7 million; and the state, $5 million. But the fair's upcoming move to Grand Island hasn't been without a few bumps. The law authorizing the move was the culmination of months of dealmaking between parties interested in having the fair, state officials, and leaders of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After it was approved, a group called Fair Vote Nebraska began a petition drive to put the move on the November ballot. The group fell short of the roughly 60,000 signatures it needed to collect by July 16 to force a vote, but members vowed to continue fighting the fair's move. 11/17/08 Date: 11/25/08
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