Faulkner County, Arkansas

The City of Conway will be submitting a proposal today to bring the Arkansas State Fair to Faulkner County, only days before Friday’s planned groundbreaking ceremony at the new Faulkner County Fairgrounds site. The Arkansas Livestock Show Association has asked for proposals for a new location, which would have to be at least 350 acres in size, within 35 miles of the existing state fairgrounds in Little Rock, and within sight of an interstate or four-lane highway.  Mayor Tab Townsell’s preliminary proposal involves a 455-acre tract of land owned by Michael and Mary Simon where the Simon family operates a dairy farm. The land is just north of Highway 64 and just east of the city limits, near the site of the new Faulkner County Fairgrounds, which is under construction.  As proposed on the maps Townsell will be sending the livestock show association, the Faulkner County site is more than three times as large as the existing state fairgrounds and more than 11 times as large as the county’s new fairgrounds site.  Townsell said the Simon family has been made aware of the city’s proposal, but has not given an indication as to whether they would agree to sell their land. If so, Townsell said, it would be the livestock show association or a state agency that would purchase the land, and it remains unclear what share of the work to build a state fairgrounds site would fall upon the city or county.  Also, as per the livestock show association’s request, the city’s proposal will include two properties adjoining the Simon family’s land to the east and west as areas that could be considered for future expansion.  The cities of Jacksonville and Carlisle are submitting similar proposals, and it’s likely that North Little Rock will as well, Townsell said. Little Rock has prepared a plan by which the existing state fairgrounds can be renovated or rebuilt in a bid to keep the state fair there.  Townsell cautioned that the city’s proposal is “an extremely preliminary” move, though the sales tax income such a venture could bring the city and county would be “tremendous.”