The Benton-Franklin Fair & Rodeo is saved — for now

The Benton-Franklin Fair & Rodeo will keep its home in Kennewick — at least until 2020.

The Benton-Franklin Fair Association has settled for a deal it didn’t want in order to keep the Benton-Franklin Fair & Rodeo in Kennewick.

The association announced Thursday it signed a two-year lease with Benton County to use the county-owned fairgrounds in 2019 and 2020.

The nonprofit wanted at least a five-year lease that would give it more room to negotiate longer-term arrangements with entertainers, carnivals and vendors.

Lori Lancaster, the fair’s executive director, said the association will continue to negotiate the longer-term deals.

“We’ll just hope that we can honor them,” she said.

The lease gives the association exclusive use of the grounds from Aug. 8 to Sept. 7 each year.

The association’s current five-year lease expires at the end of this month.

Negotiations bogged down this fall when the county moved to shorten the term from five years to two, and added other terms the association found burdensome.

Tuesday, the Benton County commission took a hard stand. Commissioners Shon Small and Jim Beaver agreed to send a letter notifying the fair it would lose access to the fairgrounds unless it signed a new deal.

The county noted that it has invested more than $3.4 million to update the fairgrounds in the past three years and said the fair itself has seen revenue grow to more than $2.5 million in 2017, including $179,000 from parking and $800,000 from admissions.

In 2019, the fair will pay $186,938 for the use of the fairgrounds and its office and storage facilities.

“Over the next two years, the county will be exploring additional options and/or opportunities to assist in making the fair more affordable for families,” the county said in a news release.

Lancaster said it accepted terms it does not consider “ideal” in the name of allowing the community to move forward with planning for 2019.

The lease requires the fair association to vacate its offices on the fairgrounds by the end of 2019. And, the association is required to use the county’s procurement process for all capital projects and to pay workers prevailing wages.

Benton County raised the rent it charges for fairgrounds facilities earlier this year after sinking millions into upgrades meant to capture more events, such as weddings and corporate gatherings.

The fair association said it was comfortable with the rent increase but needs a longer-term deal and clarity on how the procurement rules would affect an organization that relies on volunteers to perform work.

This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 2:02 PM.