State Fairgrounds Finances Improving

The U.P. State Fairgrounds may be on its way to digging out of its monetary hole.

It’s doing much better financially now than it was a year ago.

The finances for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 have come in.

Revenue is up slightly from where it had been a year ago.

And spending is down by more than $40,000.

It also appears the fairgrounds will have more non-fair events for people to attend this year than last.

Non-fair events were the main reason for the fairgrounds’ $80,000 of red ink last year.

Attendance at those events was well below expectations, with only about half as many kids coming to the fairgrounds as officials predicted.

It also lost about $40,000 in 2007.

But the actual State Fair event itself has made money.