‘We face closure’: Loss of Mid-State Fair leaves Paso Robles Event Center in dire situation
The Paso Robles Event Center is facing a precarious financial future after the coronavirus outbreak canceled the California Mid-State Fair — wiping out nearly all the facility’s revenue.
Following the cancellation of the fair — which accounts for 90% of the Event Center’s revenue — interim CEO Colleen Bojorquez said the facility needs $2 million from the state or it may be forced to close.
“We rely on event revenues to operate,” Bojorquez said during a Thursday press call. “We don’t receive any assistance from the state. The state has currently denied any funding, although we need it now desperately. So our revenue streams have been severed, and now we need to look at ways that we can stay around to 2021.”
California owns the Paso Robles Event Center, which is managed by the 16th District Agricultural Association, a state agency. The facility provides nearly 630 jobs, according to Bojorquez.
It’s also an economic force in the North County and San Luis Obispo County, as a whole — the fair and other events generate tens of millions of dollars for the region.
In addition, the Event Center serves as a crucial emergency response resource for the county. It’s a planned evacuation center — should various disasters take place — and Cal Fire used it as an operations center during the Chimney Fire in 2016.
“There’s a lot of value in that,” Bojorquez said. “And there’s a lot of value in what we bring to our community as a gathering place, and a place where we can share our triumphs, and a place where our 4-H and FFA exhibitors can show what they’ve been working on all year. And we’re hoping that we can do that.”
California fair industry struggling
The coronavirus pandemic is causing most all fairgrounds and similar event centers to suffer, Bojorquez said.
However, in recent years, the Paso Robles Event Center and the Mid-State Fair have outperformed similar venues and events, including the California State Fair at Cal Expo in Sacramento.
In January, even before the COVID-19 closures, Cal Expo was set to receive more than $2 million in taxpayer funds to stave off financial insolvency due in part to low fair attendance numbers, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The State Fair, which used to attract millions of visitors in the early 2000s, saw 601,761 attendees in 2019.
The Mid-State Fair had a flat attendance year in 2019 with 426,000 visitors, although it still netted a $400,000 profit, said Tom Keffury, a fair spokesman.
The event has made money since 2004, and it continues to draw big-name concert acts other fairs can’t get, including Cardi B, Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton, to name a few.
Mid-State Fair, Paso Robles Event Center needs $2 million
But, if the Event Center can’t host large groups of people, it can’t make money.
Bojorquez is sending a letter to legislators asking for $2 million for “critical emergency funding support.”
Central Coast Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham last week joined other California legislators in signing a letter requesting $300 million in federal funds to provide emergency assistance for the Network of California Fairs.
Cunningham is aware of the Paso Robles Event Center’s situation and is “chatting with local and legislative colleagues about solutions,” spokesman Nick Mirman told The Tribune in an email.
On Thursday, Bojorquez said the fair is hoping to hold smaller gatherings, such as swap meets and food events, in the near future to help raise some revenue.
“Our focus now is just move forward with the restrictions that we have, taking those guidelines and seeing what we can provide to our community,” she said. “If that means that in two weeks we can have 50 people, what can we do so we can have 50 people here? What can we do to have events here in the fall? What can we do to be around in 2021?”
However, she was also blunt about possible consequences for the Event Center and the fair if funding isn’t secured.
“We face closure,” she said. “It comes down to the fact that we would have to lay off our state employees, lay off the people that we have, close the doors and walk away. We aren’t allowing that to be an option. We are going to fight. We are going to go down fighting.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 5:38 PM.
