You may have heard that the county is preparing to update the Fairgrounds Master Plan. A consulting firm, MAKERS architects and urban design, has been hired to help solicit public input and provide analysis for crafting the plan. The Update will direct fairgrounds development, maintenance and activities for the next 10 or more years.

I am writing to you to encourage you to complete the survey (link provided www.surveymonkey.com/r/SJCFMasterPlan) and to stop by the master plan update booth at the upcoming fair.

The fairgrounds is an important resource, cultural landscape and a meeting place. It is perhaps the one place that I can think of that brings residents from all islands together for the fair each year. This alone makes it a historic cultural landscape, one that we need to work together to protect and preserve.

Nationally, fairs and fairgrounds are disappearing because one-week-a-year fair use is not sustainable for such large landholdings. This is why it is critical for our community to pull together to help plan the next 10-20 years of fairgrounds use and development. How do we do this and protect its unique character and sense of place? We all need to help figure this out.

We can’t sit back and expect that county staff and the consultants will be able to make a plan by themselves, at least one that resonates with the community. This is why I am encouraging you to be thinking about the fairgrounds, and that you will lend your ideas and voice to the plan.

I hope to see you at the master plan booth at the fair!

Sandy Strehlou

Friday Harbor