New Mexico Mercury

It’s time to open the New Mexico State Fair 2013. The rides on the Midway will turn you upside down. Now let’s turn the Fair inside out and make it great fun next year - all year long!

The future success of the State Fair in Albuquerque depends on the Fair becoming more a part of Albuquerque, not more of a secure, gated entertainment compound behind its blank walls and parking lots. As a public venue, Expo New Mexico has a greater duty to the community than say, Disneyland. At the same time, Expo has a duty to deliver a first class entertainment experience to the citizens of New Mexico and the residents of Albuquerque beyond the slot machines of the Downs at Albuquerque.

I want the Fair to succeed and the success of our State Fair is absolutely dependent upon its home in Albuquerque. The 21st Century identity of Albuquerqueans as members of the State of New Mexico depends on the continuing success of the Fair inside the City. Albuquerque is so “citified” a community, most residents here have no idea that we grow chile or make cheese, and know much less how chile is grown or how cheese is made. The Fair tells them about chile, cheese, horses and chickens and 4H and everything else a city doesn’t do, 2 1/2 weeks a year. The rest of the year it tells us nothing as a larger community (discounting the tales of the flea market there most weekends).

The Fair is a great tradition, but it’s a terrible burden upon the Southeast Heights and the East Central business community. This tourist season is too brief and too focused inside the Fairground walls.

When asked “what role does the State (Fair) have in the future of East Central?” Trumbull Village leaders draw a blank. The largest landowner in the neighborhood has no identity in the neighborhood. But the State Fair is an “enterprise”, and has entrepreneurial opportunities that most other State agencies don’t have. The corporation can make money and its leaders can lead.

So here are three ideas to transform Expo New Mexico into a regional-class exposition center and an economic driver for East Central.

One. Turn Main Street inside out. Build storefronts along the north side of East Central and lease them to regular Fairtime tenants. Give them on-street parking during the off season. Enliven Albuquerque’s “Main Street.” Make it New Mexico’s Main Street all year long. This step alone would be a huge boost to the International District.

It should be crazy and eclectic, a new mish-mash of old buildings, 2 to 6 stories tall along that long, sad piece of old Route 66, with a Baskin Robbins open all year long, and a Stufy’s and a Mac’s Steak in the Rough and a Blake’s LotaBurger. Imagine the State Fair offices upstairs, along with WESST Corp. and some new incubator space next door. Imagine some new market-rate apartments on top - its only 15 minutes to UNM and 20 to Downtown; 10 minutes to Uptown. There would be plenty of parking behind, not to mention a flea market every weekend. An apartment on the top floor would have a great view of the Midway or Central, from San Mateo to Wyoming!

Two. Get our tech giants on board. The Fair needs an exhibit building for the future of New Mexico, and it’s not just agriculture. The purpose of the Fair is to educate the public about technology and science – and to have fun doing it. Get !Explora! and the Natural History Museum involved. Where are Sandia National Laboratories and Intel when you need them to show off? Why doesn’t the Fair follow the economic sector development plans of the city, UNM and the state and show off our talent in robotics, optics, material science and information technology and more? If Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are important for our future education, why don’t we consciously exhibit all that and more? How do we give the visitors to the Fair the opportunity to see what the future looks like?

Oh, and by the way, where is the state poet laureate during the annual Fair?

Three. Build an arena and a hotel – on Central. We’ve been talking about a modern public venue that can seat 16,000 to 20,000 people to host high-quality events and concerts in town. Expo New Mexico is the perfect location – good access, good parking, clear location, good name recognition, and convenient transit access to Downtown, UNM and Uptown.

The next question for Albuquerque is how to update the zoning map around Expo New Mexico to capitalize on the value of such a public asset as the premier exposition center in New Mexico.

Let’s give the Fairgrounds more life all year ‘round. Make money for the State Fair Corporation. This is the promise of “infill”, and the best hope for the State Fair as a resident of Trumbull Village and Albuquerque. Let’s have some fun and build a new State Fair for this Century in Albuquerque.