Future of Minnehaha County fairgrounds clouded by gifting restrictions

Task force says deed restrictions are 'major hinderance' to future operations

Minnehaha County should conduct a thorough study to determine the value of the W.H. Lyon Fair Grounds while also determining how deed restrictions on the land could impact its future use.

Those were two of the recommendations made by a task force that the County Commission appointed in January 2022 to study the long-term viability of the fairgrounds, which hosts the annual Sioux Empire Fair. The William H. Lyon Fair Grounds Task Force made its presentation Tuesday.

A third recommendation calls for creating a county-city working group to brainstorm public-private partnerships that could help transform the facility into a regional agricultural campus.

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