DISCOURSE
smaller events , and none of them really are anything that ’ s a major revenue source , ( but we ’ re ) helping business continuity for these companies . ( In April , @ the Grounds hosted a two-day SacAnime swap meet and a two-day volleyball tournament was held in May .) The upcoming Placer County Fair ( will be ) held at @ the Grounds on June 24 to 27 .
People may think of Placer County Fairgrounds as the home of the Placer County Fair and some smaller trade shows . What is your vision for the Grounds ? Everybody that was involved in the construction of it and the vision they had for it did such a fantastic job . Focusing on youth sports , which is an industry that is really doing very well right now and for the foreseeable future can do very well — parents always seem to love to spend their money on their kids — the business model that was created here almost can ’ t fail . We ’ re still going to
be able to recover from ( the pandemic ) once this is all over .
These fairgrounds had been in the center of Roseville for 80 years and had kind of gone fallow ; things like that happen over time when there ’ s not a reason for reinvestment from the municipality . … But the vision of Placer Valley Tourism and ( CEO David Attaway ) and everybody involved to reinvest in it and find ways to fund the reinvestment , the creativity associated with that and what was delivered … was just great . My responsibility is to make sure that I shepherd the process so this can be everything that everybody that was involved in creating it dreamed up . It ’ s my job now to deliver that vision .
The centerpiece is the Roebbelen Center . What types of events can the center accommodate ? We can do cheerleading competitions , basketball , volleyball , wrestling , dance competitions . … We ( had ) The Great
Junk Hunt ( in March ). We ’ ll be able to do some consumer shows . … We can do graduations . It ’ s a full-on community center in many ways , a mini-Sacramento Convention Center , obviously on a much smaller scale . But we ’ re also a lot more flexible than they are because they have one mission — to drive hotel room nights , which is our mission as well . It is our primary focus , but with the fairgrounds , with the ( All American ) Speedway , with the flexibility of the new building , the renovation of the two previous buildings that were here ( Jones Hall and Johnson Hall ), we can hold concurrent events . We even have people approaching us about concerts and outdoor concerts . We ’ re doing festivals and fairs here . …
Everybody sees Roseville as being such a thriving community at the moment and Sacramento being thriving and us being part of that . We have a built-in ( population ) base for people to attend these events . With everything in Sacramento — Cal Expo or
28 comstocksmag . com | June 2021