State Fair of Virginia expects to present lenders plan to save fair next week

Posted by admin on Feb 14, 2012 | 0 comments

A lawyer for the State Fair of Virginia told a bankruptcy judge this afternoon that he expects to present a proposal by the middle of next week that will allow it to keep The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County and continue operating.

SFVA Inc., the nonprofit organization which puts on the annual fair, has until March 7 to either come up with a financing plan to operate for the next year or a plan to keep all of its assets that a lender group otherwise would take over.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Douglas O. Tice Jr. approved the deadline last week.

Once the proposal is submitted, the fate of the state fair will be in the hands of the lenders who can either accept the deal or take over the park March 7 at 5 p.m.

Jonathan L. Hauser, an attorney with Troutman Sanders who is representing SFVA Inc., said his client’s goal was to get the proposal to the lender group with enough time for the group to review it.

“If we don’t come up with an agreement we’ll close the doors, turn off the lights and hand over the keys,” Hauser told

The nonprofit organization filed for bankruptcy December to temporarily stop the lender group from taking over the fair’s assets, including The Meadow Event Park.

The annual state fair was no longer meeting the terms of its loan agreements and could not make its Dec. 1 interest payment without endangering near-term operations, court records show.

Last week’s order allowed the lender group, which is owed about $75.6 million, to take over two financial accounts with a total of about $20 million.