SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Paving, planting and other work is happening at the Illinois fairgrounds to get ready for this month’s State Fair, which starts in less than two weeks.
The state Department of Agriculture says workers and state prisoners are planting flowers and doing other work to get ready for the fair, which runs Aug. 13th through the 23rd.
Paving and patching of main roads and sidewalks is happening, too, as well as some painting, the State Journal-Register (https://bit.ly/1guSXMI ) reported.
“Many of the buildings on the grounds are old, and a fresh coat of paint can go a long way to sprucing up an old facility and make it welcoming for exhibitors and fairgoers,” Agriculture Department spokeswoman Rebecca Clark said. “It can also help to extend the life of these valuable state assets.”
All of this is going on in spite of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of fair funding as part of the ongoing dispute over state spending.
The state doesn’t have a budget for the fiscal year that started in July. Democrats in the Legislature offered a spending plan that lacked the revenue to cover its costs and Rauner vetoed it. Since then, he and the Democrat-controlled Legislature have been at odds.
Democrats say that means there’s no authority to spend money on the fair. Rauner’s office says the event will go on, but that some vendors may have to be paid late.
Attendance at least year’s state fair was down 11 percent to 847,000 amid rain that forced the cancellation of some events. The 2013 fair set an attendance record with 961,000 visitors.
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, https://www.sj-r.com
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