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A Breakdown Of The Battle Over FIU's Expansion Onto Fair Grounds

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  Come November 4th, voters will be able to decide whether Florida International University (FIU) should be able to expand its campus onto the Miami-Dade County Youth Fairgrounds.

FIU is asking the public to please vote yes while the fair says there is nowhere else for them to go.

The university wants to expand to add an additional 10,000 students. They say the property is the perfect place to do it but the fair says it's just not fair.

"We need additional space so we can continue to grow," said FIU President Mark Rosenberg.

The land in question is 86 acres and FIU wants 64-acres of it.

The Head of the Fair, Bob Hohenstein, said a study shows it will cost $230 million to move its location and they have nowhere to go.

"There are no sites for us to relocate to," said Hohenstein." The one we were most interested in, FIU said was too expensive."

The head of FIU said it will not cost $230 million but more like $40 to $50 million and they've identified 24 locations.

FIU said the expansion would not be done for eight to nine years. It would create a number of additional jobs in addition to the 10,000 students they say would have an economic impact of $541 million a year.

The Fair says they pump in about $100-200 million a year with all their expos and the fair.

Regarding the additional $541 million FIU would bring in, Hohenstein says, "that economic impact goes with the site wherever it is expanded."

But Rosenberg says, "We'd like to take advantage of all the built assets we have here."

Miami-Dade County has a lease in effect with the fair that doesn't run out until the year 2085 so the vote on the ballot is to extend the charter exemption that the Fair currently has, to FIU.

Now it's on the ballot for the community to decide.

To let FIU expand into the fair property meaning the fair would be relocated, vote yes. If someone wants everything to stay as is and FIU not be granted the possibility of expanding to the fairgrounds, vote no.

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