As the former mayor of Grand Island and a former board member of the Nebraska State fair, Jeremy Jensen feels uniquely qualified to publicly share his thoughts on several financial decisions made by the Nebraska State Fair, and he is speaking out.

The fair was previously awarded $20 million from the American Rescue Plan Act by the Nebraska legislature in 2022.

They also get money each year from the city of Grand Island, and recently, they made a request for another $2.6 million to make improvements to the south parking lot, which became the tipping point for Jensen.

Addressing those complaints head on was the executive director of the Nebraska State Fair, Jamie Parr. She said the fair needed to buy the 20-acre property because it was vital to their parking situation during events they held. Jensen also agreed about the value of the parking space, although he thought the purchase price of $4.15 million was well over a fair-market value.

Parr says the Nebraska State Fair is looking to sell approximately five of the acres, which includes a veterinary practice and buildings. It was previously an equine veterinary owned by Dr. Douglas Brunk.

The land where the improvements are being made is owned by the Hall County Livestock Improvement Association. While they would benefit from those enhancements as the owners of Fonner Park and the parking lot, so would the Nebraska State Fair, as well as the city. Grand Island is the owner of the Heartland Events Center, a place for music concerts, basketball games, wrestling meets and other events held throughout the year. A safer, more secure, well-lit parking lot is a benefit to all. Based on all signs and reporting, the only parties making any payment for these improvements as of now are the Nebraska State Fair.

The city of Grand Island told NCN the ask for financial help is currently under legal review as to how much the city would legally be allowed to give, which will take around four to six weeks.

Once the city knows, they would inform the fair, who would then have to make an additional request to put it on a future agenda for the city council to then vote on.