Florida International University’s hopes of expanding the Tamiami Park facility onto the county-owned fairgrounds have been dashed by Miami-Dade’s Youth Fair.
A proposal that the Miami-Dade’s Youth Fair occupy another fairground outfitted with temporary buildings and other structures for its annual four-week spring event was deemed “unacceptable” in a letter to County Hall.
The proposed plan put forth by the Florida International University (FIU) would still have the fair using several buildings at the Tamiami site for the small events it holds throughout the year. These include consumer expos, small collectible shows, and banquets.
Should the Youth Fair agree to splitting its activities between two locations, poster and flyer printing services could be supplied with a map to include on all advertisements to avoid any confusion.
The letter, dated April 2, was from the Fair president Robert Hohenstein. He pointed out that its Tamiami lease still has 70 years left. According to the terms of that lease, if Miami-Dade evicts the Fair, it must provide replacement fairgrounds.
Last fall’s approval from voters to allow FIU to use the fairgrounds at Tamiami Park for new academic facilities and dormitories was contingent on providing a new home for the Fair. FIU hopes that by splitting the Miami-Dade Youth Fair’s activities between two locations, it can avoid spending money on new permanent structures. The estimated cost for recreating the fairgrounds existing buildings at another location are around $70m.
