The Fairgrounds development will bring more than 350 jobs to Leominster. These will be construction jobs when they are building it, office, professional, and landscaping jobs to run the Fairgrounds, and hospitality jobs for the restaurant and sports bars. In addition, the Fairgrounds will support local Leominster businesses during their festival weekends and when other activities are planned there.

The Fairgrounds will have to pay the city to operate as part of their Host Community Agreement. While nothing has been officially presented or voted on by the City Council, other similar projects (like in Everett and Springfield) have brought in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new dollars to those cities. Leominster could see a million dollars a year in direct payments from the Fairgrounds, in addition to other taxes and fees. We need this money to help fix roads, build better schools, and make our city a nicer place to live. If it doesn't come from the Fairgrounds, we are going to pay it in higher taxes.

The Fairgrounds is scheduled to have two festival weekends a year. That leaves 50 other weekends when we could use it. It could be a new place to hold our own fairs and festivals, new events and a new place to enjoy without having to drive for a half hour. 

Why would anyone say no to a project like this before actually hearing what it could bring to Leominster?

We actually agree with the opponents on this one. The landfill is a big problem right now. It's been closed for almost 30 years and costs taxpayers money every year to keep our community safe. If the Fairgrounds happens, the developer will pay for the landfill’s updates and care, saving our city money. The landfill will still have to be monitored by the city, state and EPA, but now the Fairgrounds has to pay for it, and pay for improving the environmental protections as they build the project.