EDITORIAL: Fairgrounds request is one for the ages

Local elected officials have a notable history of making some difficult but wise decisions that have benefitted and will continue to benefit generations of citizens.

In August 1941, Kootenai County conveyed land snugged between the intersection of the Spokane River and Lake Coeur d’Alene to the North Idaho Junior College District. There was a stipulation: the property was deed restricted so it could never be used for commercial purposes. It could only be used for public education or a hospital.

In July 1956, the Coeur d’Alene City Council allowed citizens to vote on whether or not to sell 4.6 flat acres downtown for $100,000. The buyers proposed putting a shopping center there.

Thirteen years later, the city bought 38 downtown acres for $125,000 from Idaho Water Co. The property, which had long been targeted by developers, included 2,650 feet of shoreline. 

These are just three of the region’s more notable historic acts of far-sightedness and willingness to put the general public’s interests above all others.

The 1941 conveyance created the central campus for North Idaho College. With the institution facing an existential threat now because of reckless oversight by the college’s board majority, the core property’s limited usage is a powerful deterrent to ulterior motives.

The 1956 vote not only thwarted a shopping center dream; it preserved the footprint for what has become Coeur d’Alene’s beloved McEuen Park.

And the 1969 purchase? You know that property as Tubbs Hill, a hiker’s urban paradise rather than a densely crowded private neighborhood or sprawling convention center.

Kootenai County’s Board of Commissioners now has an opportunity to act on behalf of the public’s greatest good, albeit with a twist. This one does not pit private interests vs. public; it’s more likely a public vs. public dilemma.

Kootenai County Fairgrounds advocates are seeking a long-term lease on that centrally located property so further investment in infrastructure and facilities — at no additional cost to taxpayers — can proceed in the years ahead. Of the three commissioners, only Bill Brooks, nearing the end of his county service, has expressed unequivocal support for a long-term agreement.

Commissioners Bruce Mattare and Leslie Duncan aren’t so sure, weighing the future needs and costs for county government expansion. Without question, selling or consuming more or all of the fairgrounds would facilitate government growth, but at what cost to the people who consider their fairgrounds priceless?

This is one of those exceedingly rare opportunities to preserve something that makes living here so unique, so wonderful. A long-term lease constitutes a compromise, enough for the fairgrounds to blossom without committing anything into perpetuity. 

It’s a solution that would put the fairgrounds in some very special company.