Fair board orders parking vs. equestrian study

The Orange County Fair and Events Center board of directors voted to go forward with an environmental study to determine the future of the 7.5-acre equestrian center Thursday morning, which left horse lovers apprehensive but hopeful that officials won’t opt to convert the land to parking.

Horse enthusiasts, trainers and community members came out in force to lobby the fair board to save the equestrian center, packing all of the sitting and standing space in the Memorial Gardens building on the fairgrounds.

Fair officials say that as attendance grows, parking is at a premium and the fair board needs to seriously consider the possibility of using the land to increase available parking space. The cost of building a structure, they estimate, is $53 million, while using the equestrian center’s land could create 2,000 new spots for $2 million.

Some equestrian center advocates, however, saw opportunity in comments made by a few of the board members that expressed a willingness to work with the equestrian center and make it more accessible to the community in exchange for keeping it around.