Five hours after debate began on the State Fair, after every senator who wanted had a chance to speak his or her piece, the Legislature gave overwhelming 44-3 first-round approval to the big switch.

Grand Island will host Nebraska’s State Fair in the future. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will get the current fairground land to create a research park that everyone hopes will bring good jobs to Lincoln and new research dollars to NU.

With the strong vote and with Gov. Dave Heineman’s strong support, the proposal (LB1116) appears headed for final approval before the legislative session ends in mid-April.

Some of the most negative comments about the switch came from Sen. Gail Kopplin of Gretna, who tried unsuccessfully to remove the $5 million in state tax dollars from the package. Kopplin eventually voted for the switch.

“We may simply be voting to kill the State Fair because Lincoln doesn’t want it,” said Kopplin, who said he’s been getting calls and e-mails, particularly from the elderly who see the fair in Lincoln as a part of their culture and history.

But the university wants the area for an industrial park that they will develop later, he said. The Lincoln business community doesn’t want the fair. They see the dollar signs in the industrial park, he said.

Lincoln senators disagreed. Lincoln does want the fair but the city wants the research park more, they said. And every Lincoln senator voted for the proposal, though they expressed regret that the fair will be moving after more than 100 years in the capital city.

Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton had a few questions about the Grand Island decision, worked out during negotiations between the entities involved and Sen. Phil Erdman, chairman of the Agriculture Committee.

“What’s wrong with 84th and Havelock? The citizens of Lincoln would like to know,” he asked.

A deciding factor was cost, according to Erdman. The costs were lower at Grand Island. In every Lincoln proposal the fair board would have had to come up with $30 million in bonding. “That was the stumbling block,” Erdman said.

“I will tell you unequivocally, that Lincoln not only had a fair chance, but had an advantage,” he said.

In the Lincoln proposal, the university offered more money. “But ultimately the decision was made that this was the best solution for all parties,” he said.

Thursday’s debate included questions about the Grand Island arrangement and the potential future costs, but most senators offered support for the new fair location and for the possibilities a research park will bring.

The research park will help stop the brain drain in Nebraska. The park will provide new technology, new industry and jobs and help keep young people in Nebraska, said Lincoln Sen. Danielle Nantkes.

And the benefits for the fair will be a new start and new facilities, she said.

“This is about what is right for Nebraska today and into the future,” Nantkes said.

Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island promised that his community will create a strong state fair that is centered around agriculture and draws families from across the state. And Grand Island will do better than Hutchinson, Kan., a town of about 40,000 that draws more than 300,000 fairgoers, he said.

And Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton invited her “city cousins” to “come out and visit us” at a fair that she said will continue to be a celebration of agriculture and an event educating people about the importance of agriculture to the state.

The fair wasn’t surviving at the current location, said Sen. Vickie McDonald of St. Paul, pointing to reports indicating it would take about $30 million to fix up the buildings at Lincoln’s State Fair Park.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.