Bernalillo County leaders look to other cities for fairground redevelopment ideas
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. —
Bernalillo County leaders are exploring redevelopment ideas for Expo New Mexico by studying how other U.S. cities have transformed their fairgrounds into year-round economic drivers.
Adriann Barboa, who represents the district that includes the fairgrounds, was among the leaders who traveled to Nashville, Cincinnati and Louisville to learn from their successes.
“Those communities impacted, they can be your biggest movement for success, or they can be the biggest movement towards failure,” Barboa said.
In Louisville, Barboa said she saw firsthand how consistent investment keeps the community thriving.
“How they did that was through economic development on the property. They’ve really honed in on the cultural needs and wants of that community, and they leveraged that for 365 events a year,” she said.
The vision for redevelopment begins at Expo New Mexico. Barboa said the approved bond money could be used to acquire land, fund traffic and pedestrian safety upgrades and carve out space for a new park. Depending on final approvals, the site could also include a future stadium.
As final site proposals move through the board, leaders emphasized the importance of community involvement.
“When we have community buy-in, that means meaningful participation where we can have successful business for our whole community to thrive,” Barboa said.
Despite discussions about possible changes to the fairgrounds, the New Mexico State Fair will remain unchanged this year.
