Valley Fair May Move to a Different Valley

The Valley Fair Board of Directors, citing dissatisfaction with its present home at Burbank’s Equestrian Center and lack of cooperation by other local venues, said Friday that the fair most likely will move to the Santa Clarita Valley.

The nine-member board, which has been negotiating with the city of Santa Clarita, decided to make that area its first choice for a permanent relocation site, said Bob Scott, a board member. The move would not take place until at least 2000, he said.

“For 10 years, the fair has been looking for a permanent home,” he said. The Equestrian Center “was never intended to be permanent.”

Now in its 52nd year, the fair has moved around to different sites in the San Fernando Valley, including Devonshire Downs--now part of CSUN’s campus--and the Equestrian Center in recent years.

There, the fair attracted about 50,000 people this year, but barely broke even, given the several hundred thousand dollars the event costs, he said.

One dissatisfaction with the Equestrian Center has been its control of the concession stands--which generate a large portion of the revenues, Scott said. The board has had no say in what is sold.

“We don’t have the latitude to choose different ethnic foods,” he said.

The board’s search for other San Fernando Valley sites has been unsuccessful.

Local groups have opposed the Chatsworth Reservoir as a possible home, citing ecological concerns, Scott said. The Army Corps of Engineers opposed locating in the Tujunga Wash, a flood control basin.

But Santa Clarita officials have been receptive, partly because of the economic impact the fair would have, according to Scott.

“They’ve certainly been more supportive than anyone in the San Fernando Valley,” he said.

The area has more open land and a handful of locations are being considered, Scott said, though he said he could not reveal specific possible sites yet.

A risky gamble could be a move out of the fair’s population base, Scott said.

The 51st Agricultural District--which oversees the fair--covers the heavily populated San Fernando Valley north to less-dense Santa Clarita and up to Pyramid Lake.

Though fair visitors from southern Los Angeles County would have to travel farther, they would get a better fair, Scott said.

A permanent home would give organizers a year-round operation to develop better fair attractions and possibly create profits.

“Our goal is to make the fair better,” he said.