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The Army will take over…
May 1, 1942
Detroit News Quilt History Project; Michigan State University Museum; Susan Salser
Detroit, Michigan, United States
An article announcing the cancellation of the Michigan State Fair during WWII.
Army Allows Race Meet at Fair Grounds
Lansing, Mich., May 1, -(AP)- The Army will take over the State Fair grounds in Detroit May 15 "for the duration," allowing the 1942 horse racing program to proceed as scheduled, but hinting broadly that there might be no more racing at the grounds until the war has ended.
Lee V. Card, state agricultural commissioner, made the announcement here Thursday following a conference with military officers in Detroit. He said the Army's decisions made it definite that there would be no State Fair this year.
He said he did not know what happened to upset a tentative deal under which the Marine Corps was to have taken over the grounds as a storage place, agreeing to spend $112,000 for improvements to pay the state $35,000 a year rental, The Army, he said, will improve the grounds but pay only one dollar a year rental.
The Army will lease the entire plant, and take over the lease under which the Detroit Racing Association each summer conducts a horse racing program on the fair grounds track. He said the Army Officers declined to reach an understanding with the association for a 1943 racing meet.
Contracts were written, but have not yet been signed, Card said.
The agricultural commissioner said he assumed state employees at the grounds would be laid off May 15, the date set for the state to vacate the premises.
Courtesy of The Detroit News Archives.
Lansing, Mich., May 1, -(AP)- The Army will take over the State Fair grounds in Detroit May 15 "for the duration," allowing the 1942 horse racing program to proceed as scheduled, but hinting broadly that there might be no more racing at the grounds until the war has ended.
Lee V. Card, state agricultural commissioner, made the announcement here Thursday following a conference with military officers in Detroit. He said the Army's decisions made it definite that there would be no State Fair this year.
He said he did not know what happened to upset a tentative deal under which the Marine Corps was to have taken over the grounds as a storage place, agreeing to spend $112,000 for improvements to pay the state $35,000 a year rental, The Army, he said, will improve the grounds but pay only one dollar a year rental.
The Army will lease the entire plant, and take over the lease under which the Detroit Racing Association each summer conducts a horse racing program on the fair grounds track. He said the Army Officers declined to reach an understanding with the association for a 1943 racing meet.
Contracts were written, but have not yet been signed, Card said.
The agricultural commissioner said he assumed state employees at the grounds would be laid off May 15, the date set for the state to vacate the premises.
Courtesy of The Detroit News Archives.
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Detroit News Quilt History Project
Salser, Susan
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