WEST BEND - Asking the county to
take ownership of the buildings at the Washington County
Fair Park is one of three steps the volunteer management
group there hopes will help resolve Fair Park’s current
financial crisis.
Thursday, the Board of Directors for the nonprofit
Washington County Agriculture and Industrial Society (AIS)
voted to propose the property’s transfer to the county, as
well as a more aggressive role in developing next year’s
budget and the creation of Fair Park’s first five-year
development plan.
While the county owns the 133-acre fairgrounds, the
utility infrastructure and the Washington County Pavilion,
most of the the rest of the Fair Park buildings are owned by
AIS.
"I don’t think AIS really needs to own the
buildings. The county could do a much better job maintaining
them," said Donald Roskopf of Ger-mantown. He is an AIS
Board member and a former county board supervisor.
