Louisville, KY (WDRB News) --The Kentucky State Fair Board is looking to taxpayers to help ease the blow of losing U of L and Kentucky Kingdom.
The Fair Board is hoping $8½ million in Governor Steve Beshear's budget for the Expo Center will make it through the Kentucky State Legislature.
After U of L basketball left Freedom Hall for its new home downtown at the KFC Yum! Center, and Six Flags pulled out of Kentucky Kingdom, fewer people are going through the gates at the Expo Center, so annual revenue is below budget.
"Obviously we need a little help at the moment with the loss of U of L, which we knew was coming, but Kentucky Kingdom closing was a surprise to us," says the Executive Director of the Kentucky State Fair Board Harold Workman.
He says the losses amount to about $4½ million a year in operating revenue.
The Fair Board manages the KFC Yum! Center but is only paid a flat fee for that.
Workman says getting Kentucky Kingdom back open remains a priority with the owners of Holiday World in southern Indiana still a possibility of operating a re-opened amusement park here.
Workman says the earliest Kentucky Kingdom could open again would be next year.
"The spring of 2013," he says, "we are pretty confident we can get that done."
Workman says they are still in negotiations with the Koch family which owns Holiday World, but are also talking with other companies.
He says because of the state's budget problems plans to demolish the old Cardinal Stadium and build a new amphitheater have been put on indefinite hold.
The $8½ million expenditure to help the fair board in the governor's budget still has to be approved by lawmakers.
"The legislature has to look at all of their requests and deal with that in this day in time nothing is for certain and certainly this isn't either," says Workman.
Workman says he'll be in Frankfort next month meeting with lawmakers making his case.
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