[ronmil]

Originally Posted by SoIllSprinter Based on the asking price and the location it will be interesting to see who is interested and what might happen there. Someone asked or mentioned moving the fairgrounds. It is not a publicly owned facility. Belle Clair Inc. is listed as the ownership group. Many folks don’t recall this factoid, but the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds was for most of it’s life a privately owned facility as well. The state of Illinois took possession in 1986.

Yes,
Owned by the Hayes family until they died in a plane crash
1972 I believe
The next owner went bankrupt

[SoIllSprinter]

The patriarch of the Hayes family perished in a plane crash. The family continued ownership until the late seventies when Saad Jabr bought the fairgrounds and promptly ran it into the ground. Big Jim Thompson rescued the facility in 86 and the state has ran it ever since.