By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

That was the word Thursday from a local group bidding to bring the Nebraska State Fair to Grand Island.

"The preliminary drawings do not call for the removal of any of the existing amenities," said Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce. "To the contrary, the fact that there were a fire station, Island Oasis, some family involvement or entertainment opportunities on site was attractive to the State Fair.

"They thought that it really made the whole complex very family friendly," Johnson said.

The Nebraska Legislature has given two of a needed three rounds of approval to relocating the State Fair from Lincoln to Grand Island by 2010.

It's a move that has been supported by the Nebraska State Fair Board and the University of Nebraska, which wants to turn existing State Fair grounds in Lincoln into a research and investment park.

Grand Island Parks and Recreation Director Steve Paustian said Fonner Park allowed the city previously to develop three softball fields and a large soccer field on land west of the Heartland Events Center. The fields are maintained by the city and used for league play by the Grand Island Softball Association and Grand Island Soccer Association, respectively.

"We've had some calls from soccer people and quite honestly, those facilities are very important to the community, along with the water park, and there's no move and there haven't been any talks about moving them either," said Hugh Miner Jr., Fonner Park executive vice president and chief executive officer.

"At this point in time there's no disruption to those fields," Johnson said.

She anticipated there might be parking challenges if a softball or soccer game were going on at the same time as the State Fair, which currently runs in early September.

Doug Adler, the treasurer of the Grand Island Softball Association, said the adult softball season starts in May and continues through September. The length of the season into September is dependent on how may rainouts there have been.

"I can't see right now where that would bother us with not enough places to park," Adler said.

Former Mayor Jay Vavricek, a member of the local group recruiting the State Fair, said those fields along with the city's water park and newest fire station are important to the community.

"The taxpayers have made an investment there," Vavricek said.

"The fire station absolutely, unequivocally would not be impacted. That's a structure that actually complements the Fonner Park/State Fair fields."

Fire Chief Jim Rowell said a firefighter and law enforcement memorial is to be located on the fire station's large parcel of land. The memorials could be of interest to State Fair attendees.

The city will have to wait to see what type of traffic patterns will be generated by the State Fair, although Rowell doesn't "have any traffic concerns any greater than for any other event at Fonner."

A special traffic light or signal that allows fire engines to have a break in traffic may be pursued in the future, he said, but he sees real positives with the fire station's location.

"Being in close proximity does make us able to respond quickly to the site and to the events," Rowell said.

The State Fair may also reveal new opportunities for the city's water park, Island Oasis.

Paustian said he's been envisioning the potential for an extended water park season into September's traditionally warm weather, but noted having enough staff would be a challenge.

"We'd certainly examine it, but it will take more than we've been able to come with to date," he said.

The water park relies heavily on high school and college students to fill the two daily shifts of 24 staff each. Those students typically head back to school and the park closes in mid- to late- August.

Needs could change and there's "a ton of decisions to be made in the future," Vavricek said. Even the timing of the State Fair could be changed by the State Fair board.

But for now, the plan opens a lot of opportunities with the creation of new facilities to be built at Fonner that Johnson said could be used year-round.

"When we looked at developing the site the improvements have been earmarked to not impact the existing city infrastructure that's there today," Vavricek said.

"The hope is, it will be a warm, inviting, safe and family- friendly environment knowing that we're going to be hosting everyone from toddlers to families to senior citizens, but also allow for other opportunities that the fair board would indicate are necessary to increase the vitality of a State Fair."

It's all subject to a third vote of the Nebraska Legislature, which is scheduled to occur during next week's final week of the session.

"One more round, one more vote, and we'll really have to roll our sleeves up," Miner said.