By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Tommy's Restaurant server Misti Williams delivers an order Tuesday afternoon. If the State Fair comes to Grand Island, Linda Wright, another server, said business could pick up during the day shift, but that crowds are difficult to predict. Independent/Scott Kingsley Housekeeper Esmeralda Davila cleans a room at the Mid-Town Holiday Inn Tuesday morning. The hotel is hopeful that the State Fair comes to Grand Island, bringing with it business during a slow period of the year. Click Thumbnails to View

After more than an hour of debate, state legislators voted in favor of forwarding an amended version of LB1116 on to a final reading and vote, which is expected to take place sometime next week.

In addition to smoothing over some of the language in the original bill, the amended version requires the University of Nebraska to provide a master plan and business plan for its proposed research park to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2009, and update the plan each subsequent year. The bill also makes the move to Grand Island contingent upon the securing of the $42 million in funds needed.

After the vote, Don Dunn, chairman of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said he wasn't surprised by the legislators' actions Wednesday.

And as the process of getting LB1116 signed into law is nearing the finish line, Dunn said Grand Island's business community is upbeat about the State Fair's potential move. The improvements that would be made to Fonner Park for the fair would allow it to host additional programs and events throughout the year that it currently can't accommodate.

"I think that will be great for Grand Island and certainly South Locust merchants throughout the year and not just State Fair time," Dunn said.

The fair's move would just increase the momentum for business growth the South Locust corridor has seen during the past several years, said Scott Zana, a member of the South Locust Business Improvement District 4 board. BID 4 stretches between Fonner Park Road and Stolley Park Road.

With the establishment of the South Locust BIDs and their subsequent landscaping improvements, the opening of the Interstate 80 interchange on South Locust Street and the widening of South Locust, "we're just seeing tremendous momentum for business change," Zana said.

Other South Locust businesses owners are also "pretty juiced up" about the prospect of the State Fair making a move, said Byron Wheeler, owner of Byco gas stations and chairman of South Locust BID 4.

Zana agreed.

"I think the State Fair itself, with all the business and people it brings to our community, especially to the South Locust corridor, would be terrific for both the near and distant future," Zana said.

With an expected draw of hundreds of thousands of people last year's fair had an attendance of nearly 300,000 Wheeler said the State Fair would definitely have an impact on gas stations like his.

"They'll have to drive to get there," Wheeler said.

BID 4 board members Roy Neneman, owner of Roy's Grand Dodge, and Bill Martin, president of Skagway, said the fair would definitely increase traffic along South Locust Street, but neither was sure how that upswing would affect their businesses.

"I'm sure it certainly wouldn't hurt it," Neneman said.

His car dealership often sees increases in sales during events like Husker Harvest Days.

"Anything that brings possible business to Grand Island and specifically South Locust has got to be good," Neneman said.

The fair would likely have a larger impact on the hotels situated along South Locust Street, such as the Midtown Holiday Inn, which would likely receive reservations from fair vendors and possibly some attendees, said Rhonda Saalfeld, Holiday Inn general manager and a member of South Locust BID 3, which extends south of Stolley Park Road to Highway 34.

"I definitely think it would be a good move," Saalfeld said. "I think it would be good business for Grand Island."