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Pandemic did not cancel Wisconsin State Fair Park improvements
COVID 19 canceled last year’s events at Wisconsin State Fair Park, but fair board member Senator Tim Carpenter says many facility improvements were done. “Just things that you’ll notice when you do come is the central mall has been completely redone. It’s disability-friendly so people in wheelchairs can get around. A lot of area for shade, a lot of picnic tables.”
Carpenter says more improvements are planned before next year’s fair. “For example, the central mall bathrooms. they’re going to be completely redone. There will be 30% more capacity. There’s going to be a new gate opening up for State Fair.”
Carpenter says that when federal officials needed the exhibition hall as a backup COVID-19 care center, they could get a new roof and other improvements at a very low bond rate. The Tommy Thompson youth center, where many exhibitors stay during the fair also received new carpeting, windows, sprinklers, and other updates.
Carpenter says the state fair managed to stay in the black, in part by being creative in 2020, including selling drive-through cream puffs, cutting salaries, and finding other ways to survive the pandemic.
