VALLEY FAIR ATTENDANCE RISES EVENT AT SAUGUS SPEEDWAY SEES SURGE OF 40 PERCENT.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Attendance at the Valley Fair increased about 40 percent this year after its move from Hansen Dam to the Saugus Speedway, prompting organizers to consider keeping the event in the Santa Clarita Valley.

But the host of the fair's livestock show, held at the dam, said he's hoping to organize Valley business leaders to build a permanent facility there to return the fair to its home in the San Fernando Valley.

Attendance at the four-day fair, which closed Sunday, was about 20,000 compared with the 14,000 people who attended last year when the San Fernando Valley Fair was held at the dam in Lake View Terrace.

Trying to wean the 61-year-old event off state money, organizers said Wednesday they need more gate revenue than what was collected at Hansen Dam.

So, the fair could be back at the Saugus Speedway next year, said David Honda, president of the 51st Agricultural District Association, which oversees the fair.

"We're not ruling it out, but I'd like to see a comfort level from the San Fernando Valley to be nice so we can work together," he said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, however, has asked the state to conduct an audit of the fair board, and he wants the state to create a new agricultural district for the San Fernando Valley.

As it's drawn now, the 51st District includes the San Fernando Valley and some of Santa Clarita, but it also extends north to Gorman.

"I absolutely believe the fair should be in the San Fernando Valley," he said. "I'd like to see it at Hansen Dam on a consistent basis."

While some of the Santa Clarita Valley lies within the district, the Saugus Speedway does not. Organizers moved the fair to the speedway at the last minute, when the speedway's owners approached them after the fair ran into trouble securing Woodley Park in Encino.

For one thing, beer can be sold at the privately owned speedway without the restrictions organizers have faced using the city park in Los Angeles.

"We feel very blessed that Santa Clarita supported us in such a fantastic way," said Catherine Garcia, CEO of the fair. "We feel that they did embrace us and we're very pleased with that."

One drawback was that this year's fair had no livestock show. The animal show was held at the Hansen Dam at the invitation of owner Eddie Milligan.

Now, Milligan is calling for new leadership of the fair association, and he said he plans to bring business leaders together on a committee to look into creating an event center at Hansen Dam that could host the fair.

While fair organizers say finding good land in the mostly urban San Fernando Valley is a challenge, Alarcon has accused them of sitting on $3 million that could be used for a permanent facility.

"They just haven't put together the right effort, and anybody with knowledge of these matters could do it," he said.

The fair association received $180,000 this year from the state to help underwrite the fair, and that's the money Honda said the association is trying to do without because of state cuts. Meanwhile, he plans to meet with Los Angeles City Council members this month to explain the fair's needs.

"Really our point of income is from gate sales, so if you don't get the gate sales up, obviously you're going to be in a hole," he said.

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