Orange County Fair Board members are set Thursday to discuss the future of the equestrian center on the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, with supporters concerned the service could be shut down.
The board is focused on the equestrian center in part due to annual losses of about $1 million. In September, board members directed staff to seek bids for an independent operator to assume operating expenses. But now the board may consider closing it altogether, the center’s supporters fear.
According to the board’s staff report, questions have been raised over the last 44 years about the equestrian center’s “long-term viability.” Discussions have arisen about its use as a public asset while private trainers and boarders use the state-owned property, prompting questions about whether it has become a “gift of state funds.”
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said she wants the equestrian center to continue on the fairgrounds.
“We should be supporting the equestrians and working in a partnership with them, not trying to eliminate it,” Foley told City News Service.
Foley disputed any claims that the center does not offer a public service.
“It’s kind of a misnomer there are no community programs because there are a lot of community programs that go on there,” Foley said.
But Foley would like to see more done with it.
“If the fair board would invest in that area there could be more competitions, there could be more events,” Foley said. “There’s a lot of things you can do.”
Foley suggested afterschool programming in partnership with the nearby school district, for example.
“There’s so many opportunities,” she said. “I just hope they’ll take the time to truly partner with the equestrian groups that are the users there now to develop a program in the future that is community-minded.”
Foley also questioned the financial drain the equestrian center poses.
“How much money do we lose running a park?” Foley said. “I know some of my friends on the fair board won’t like this, but it’s like, does everything have to be monetized on the fairgrounds? What happened to it being a community asset?”