Jan. 18, 2022

Minnehaha County commissioners will hold a public application process and have drawn early interest from people looking to help determine a future vision for the William H. Lyon Fair Grounds.

Commissioners decided to move a resolution creating the 12- to 16-person group to next week, at which point they’ll discuss specifics such as a deadline for applications.

Winona Axtell gifted the land for the fairgrounds in memory of her husband, William, in 1938 and 1942.

More than 600,000 people attend an event there annually, the commission estimates. The site, which is commonly referred to as the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds, is at 100 N. Lyon Blvd., near Interstate 29 and 12th Street.

While some new facilities have been added in recent years, much of the fairgrounds is aging.

“The elephant in the room since I’ve been on the commission has been the fairgrounds,” Commissioner Dean Karsky said. “Comments I’ve seen and heard in the last 24 hours … the public is extremely excited about this. It’s time, and it’s about time we did this. I had several people text me and email me and call me that are interested in serving.”

It will be a process, though, he added. The estimate is the task force will meet for about a year before giving recommendations.

“This is going to be a lot of work,” Karsky said. “It’s going to be a heavy lift.”

Public input on the item was minimal but positive.

“It’s really pleasing to see the commissioners take the lead on this,” said Steve Munk of Dell Rapids, a longtime fair board member and 4-H leader.

“The direction of this group is not to discuss the fate of the fair but really where we can go from now.”

Multiple commissioners voiced support for the process.

“This is an opportunity for us to think hard in one direction about one project and get community input,” Commissioner Jean Bender said. “Just like anything, there are opportunities and there are challenges, and we need everybody to be at the table … so we can have a clear-eyed view of what those opportunities are and how we fight to be able to capitalize on those opportunities and what the challenges are. Challenges a lot of times come down to money.”

While the Sioux Empire Fair itself had a strong year in 2021, the fairgrounds themselves require an annual county subsidy.

“It’s a bit of a money pit for us at this point,” Commissioner Jeff Barth said. “With this group, we might be able to find ways to make things better.”

Task force members must be “representative of community stakeholders with no identifiable conflict of interest,” commission administrative officer Carol Muller said.

Task force meetings will be public and include public input, she said.

“We plan on being very transparent in this particular process,” Muller said.

Minnehaha County plans to ‘review, establish vision’ for fairgrounds