Valley Fair’s Financial Footing Is Improving : Event: Long-standing deficit has been reduced. Negotiations are in the works to make equestrian center the permanent site.

For the first time in three years, officials of the San Fernando Valley Fair--which begins Thursday--say they are getting back on their feet financially.

A long-standing $300,000 deficit has been reduced to $50,000 and negotiations are in the works to make the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank the permanent site for the annual fair, a stabilizing move that is crucial to a fair’s financial survival, they said.

“There was a transition period after we left CSUN,” said the fair’s general manager, Dale Coons, about the 1988 loss of the fair’s previous permanent location at Cal State Northridge. “But we will end that debt. . .by the end of this year.”

Coons estimates the fair will generate $100,000 this year in admissions and more than $100,000 in carnival and concession revenues.

“We are not out of the woods,” Coons said, “but so far we are well on our way.”

The San Fernando Valley Fair board met its goal for 1994 by staying within its budget of $500,000. A public relations firm headed a program that attracted large corporate sponsors--including local media outlets, a beer company and a cellular phone company--and the state Department of Food and Agriculture funded $140,000 of the fair.

To attract more exhibitors, board members waived competition exhibit fees for this year’s fair, yet preserved prize money and awards. Coons said the cost of administrating the fees was more than the $4,000 they generated. “And we wanted to make it as easy as possible for young people to enter,” he said.

In 1993, more than 51,000 people attended the fair at the Equestrian Center, and officials expect 65,000 this year for the 48th annual event.

But a current state proposal by Gov. Pete Wilson, which would turn over the operation of all state fairs to the private sector, could hinder the financial progress of the fair, said Stan Wirth, financial officer for the state Division of Fairs and Expositions.

That proposal could end some or all state funding of fairs, although the costs of adhering to state rules and regulations also would be eliminated. The proposal is still being studied, officials said.

Because the San Fernando Valley Fair is one of the smallest fairs in California, it receives more money from the state than larger fairs such as the Los Angeles County Fair.

“The smaller fairs usually don’t have a facility and they need more help with resources,” Wirth said. “They don’t have a big base of income to draw from.”

Not having a permanent site for five years added to the San Fernando Valley Fair’s financial losses.

In 1988, the fair was evicted from its longtime home at CSUN’s Devonshire Downs--where the fair had some permanent facilities--to make way for new developments by the university. It moved first to Hansen Dam Recreation Area, where it spent thousands of dollars on tent and equipment rentals, then, four years later, to the equestrian center.

“Just the fact that we lost our permanent home at CSUN and had to move to Hansen Dam cost us so much money,” Coons said. “The revenue was not great enough to be able to rent tents at Hansen Dam and make money.”

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At Hansen Dam, the fair board was forced to rent equipment to house everything from exhibitions to ticket stands. The fair put down roots with the support of the community, but the prospect of eliminating many of the rental fees caused it to move on in 1991. When the fair moved to its current Burbank home the following year, it saved more than $100,000 in rental fees because the equestrian center has extensive facilities.

The fair’s horse show, which had been held at locations away from the main site for years, finally could be consolidated and is self-supporting for the first time in the fair’s history, Coons said.

The fair will run July 21-24 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center with an old West theme titled “We’ve Got Your Fun Covered.”