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Windmill icon could be central to State Fair move to Grand Island
By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com
Nebraska State Fair board member Van Neidig has a unique idea for a new symbol for the State Fair when it officially moves to Grand Island in 2010 -- windmills.
Neidig of Battle Creek, who has served on the State Fair board for seven years and has been associated with the fair business for more than 30 years, said the windmill is a fitting symbol of both Nebraska's past and future.
"My goal would be to find historic ranches in Nebraska to donate a windmill off their ranch to the State Fair or the State Fair Foundation, " he said on Tuesday during an address to the Grand Island Rotary Club.
Neidig said he hopes to have four or five of the windmills relocated to the State Fair and have them pumping water as an "icon of the State Fair."
"That does a lot of things," he said. "Everybody loves windmills. It also opens up the opportunity to ultimately put up a wind power generator."
Along with it being an icon of Nebraska, Neidig said, the windmill also would give the State Fair an opportunity to emphasize Nebraska's agricultural lifeblood -- groundwater. It will also emphasize the state's billion-dollar agricultural industry, which the Grand Island location will help to revitalize as an emphasis of the State Fair.
"It would provide huge ownership for the western part of the state," he said. "That is how you make them welcome. You want every entity of this state and this area to have ownership in something involving the State Fair."
That ownership is important in many ways, including the volunteer work people and organizations provide to make sure the fair goes off successfully. Currently, Neidig said, there are more than 900 volunteers who work hard to make the 10-day fair in Lincoln successful.
While the State Fair conversation mainly focuses on the details and deadlines involved in moving the fair from Lincoln to Grand Island in 2010, Neidig is enthusiastic about the potential Grand Island brings to the future of the fair.
For example, for the last five years, State Fair Park in Lincoln has average 1,080 rental dates.
"The facilities at State Fair Park are far less than what it will be at Fonner Park in Grand Island," Neidig said. "We will see an exceeding amount of use of those grounds in Grand Island because of the centralization and the opportunity it brings forward."
He said the new State Fair grounds in Grand Island will feature one the nation's largest cattle barns at more than 300,000 square feet.
"To give you an example of what this is capable of doing, initially, we will have more tie stalls for cattle than any building currently west of the Mississippi River," Neidig said.
If the adjacent sheep barn has the ability to convert to cattle ties, he said, that represents "the largest building in the United States that will tie cattle."
That will open up a lot of possibilities for bringing a number of national cattle shows during the offseason to the State Fair grounds in Grand Island. Those could include the American Angus Association's junior competition, which could bring more than 2,000 youths (plus an average of 3.5 adults per youth) and more than 2,500 head of cattle to Grand Island for a week.
The expanded state-of-the-art State Fair livestock facility could also bring countless other national cattle and livestock shows to Grand Island.
"We have designed these facilities for a wide range of uses," Neidig said.
While the new State Fair facilities will bring a host of opportunities for increased visitors and economic opportunities to town, Neidig said making it a success will depend a lot on the people of Grand Island.
"It may seem trivial to say, but you need to make your guest feel welcome," he said.
With the move date looming, Neidig said planning is well under way, but there remains a lot of unanswered questions, some of which have yet to be anticipated by the State Fair board or Fonner Park officials.
"There are so many question that literally are not going to be answered because we don't know the answer because it has never been done," Neidig said.
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Neidig of Battle Creek, who has served on the State Fair board for seven years and has been associated with the fair business for more than 30 years, said the windmill is a fitting symbol of both Nebraska's past and future.
"My goal would be to find historic ranches in Nebraska to donate a windmill off their ranch to the State Fair or the State Fair Foundation, " he said on Tuesday during an address to the Grand Island Rotary Club.
"That does a lot of things," he said. "Everybody loves windmills. It also opens up the opportunity to ultimately put up a wind power generator."
Along with it being an icon of Nebraska, Neidig said, the windmill also would give the State Fair an opportunity to emphasize Nebraska's agricultural lifeblood -- groundwater. It will also emphasize the state's billion-dollar agricultural industry, which the Grand Island location will help to revitalize as an emphasis of the State Fair.
"It would provide huge ownership for the western part of the state," he said. "That is how you make them welcome. You want every entity of this state and this area to have ownership in something involving the State Fair."
That ownership is important in many ways, including the volunteer work people and organizations provide to make sure the fair goes off successfully. Currently, Neidig said, there are more than 900 volunteers who work hard to make the 10-day fair in Lincoln successful.
While the State Fair conversation mainly focuses on the details and deadlines involved in moving the fair from Lincoln to Grand Island in 2010, Neidig is enthusiastic about the potential Grand Island brings to the future of the fair.
For example, for the last five years, State Fair Park in Lincoln has average 1,080 rental dates.
"The facilities at State Fair Park are far less than what it will be at Fonner Park in Grand Island," Neidig said. "We will see an exceeding amount of use of those grounds in Grand Island because of the centralization and the opportunity it brings forward."
He said the new State Fair grounds in Grand Island will feature one the nation's largest cattle barns at more than 300,000 square feet.
"To give you an example of what this is capable of doing, initially, we will have more tie stalls for cattle than any building currently west of the Mississippi River," Neidig said.
If the adjacent sheep barn has the ability to convert to cattle ties, he said, that represents "the largest building in the United States that will tie cattle."
That will open up a lot of possibilities for bringing a number of national cattle shows during the offseason to the State Fair grounds in Grand Island. Those could include the American Angus Association's junior competition, which could bring more than 2,000 youths (plus an average of 3.5 adults per youth) and more than 2,500 head of cattle to Grand Island for a week.
The expanded state-of-the-art State Fair livestock facility could also bring countless other national cattle and livestock shows to Grand Island.
"We have designed these facilities for a wide range of uses," Neidig said.
While the new State Fair facilities will bring a host of opportunities for increased visitors and economic opportunities to town, Neidig said making it a success will depend a lot on the people of Grand Island.
"It may seem trivial to say, but you need to make your guest feel welcome," he said.
With the move date looming, Neidig said planning is well under way, but there remains a lot of unanswered questions, some of which have yet to be anticipated by the State Fair board or Fonner Park officials.
"There are so many question that literally are not going to be answered because we don't know the answer because it has never been done," Neidig said.
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