Fairgrounds relocating due to MCAS accident-potential zone
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma County is home to some of the nation's greatest amenities: agriculture, tourism, and military bases.
What was once a field for growing crops turned into the Yuma County Fairgrounds.
The Yuma County Fairgrounds are in a prime accident-potential zone, located just across the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS) street.
Russell McCloud, Yuma County Supervisor, says it's a risk the county is just not willing to take.
"If an aircraft goes down while there’s people there, especially the fair, it just, it’s horrendous," McCloud explained. "I mean, you could imagine."
Eric Wofford, General Manager of Yuma County Fairgrounds, says they host about 300 events in a non-pandemic year, putting many people at risk, considering how low the planes fly.
"I know fair, we typically get around 160,000 in attendance," Wofford stated.
MCAS and the fairgrounds have been neighbors since 1954, and it’s going to cost more than $20 million to relocate.
"We are looking for various funding sources," McCloud said. "It is a very large project, you know, by the time you acquire land and put in all the infrastructure and then build buildings, it is a large undertaking but one that needs to be done."
