Committee to evaluate all aspects of State Fair

A special committee has been created to evaluate all aspects of the Kentucky State Fair, "to make sure we are doing what we should be doing," said Dr. Mark Lynn, Kentucky State Fair Board chairman.

Lynn named the committee composed of several members of the fair board at a meeting Thursday and quickly said that he would chair the panel that will assess the 11-day event held every August for more than a century.

Clifford "Rip" Rippetoe, the fair board president and CEO, declined to say that there are any major problems with the fair, or how the fair board has been producing and managing it.

But the paid attendance at the 2014 Kentucky State Fair, held down by heavy rain on several key days, dipped to 515,937, well below last year's total of 615,648 and the smallest crowd since 1984.

Rippetoe called the one-year deep attendance drop an "anomaly."

GOVERNOR: Beshear shakes up State Fair Board

ATTENDANCE DOWN: Storms cut into Kentucky State Fair crowds

But Anthony Leachman, the fair board finance chief, reported at the board meeting that the 2014 fair also lost more than $200,000 — with revenue of $9.3 million against expenses of over $9.5 million.

Other issues have included some poorly attended concerts in the last few years, sometimes traffic congestion and having to set up a temporary stage and seating at old Cardinal Stadium because of its decrepit condition.

Rippetoe said the upcoming State Fair evaluation will look at the event from a business point of view and also to make sure that "it is meeting the public's expectations." He said one intent is to expand the agriculture-related activities of the fair.

No timetable was given for the review to be completed by Lynn's committee.

In other action at the board meeting:

•It was reported that a record 64,409 delegates registered for the recently completed National FFA Organization convention held in Louisville. The convention had an estimated economic impact of $40 million.

The number of registered delegates was about 1,000 more than signed in for the 2013 convention, also held in Louisville, said Linda Edwards, fair board vice president of sales and marketing. The 2015 FFA convention is also committed to Louisville, before moving to Indianapolis for three years.

•Rippetoe said he expects a consultant to be selected soon to complete a master plan for the Kentucky Exposition Center. Among other things, the consultant will examine long-range facility needs, including what should go in place of old Cardinal Stadium that is being razed.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089. Follow him on Twitter at @sheldonshafer.