Director: Illinois State Fairgrounds needs upgrading

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The newly appointed director of the state Agriculture Department says the Illinois State Fairgrounds needs repairs and a long-term strategy to attract users year-round.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday named Philip Nelson to head the Department of Agriculture. Nelson is a longtime president of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Nelson tells The (Springfield) State Journal-Register (http://bit.ly/1wirYUt ) that the fairgrounds in Springfield and the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in southern Illinois need to be modernized.

Nelson says repairs to buildings are an immediate need. He says the state also needs to a plan for five or 10 years from now.

He says: "We want to attract people, and not just to the state fair, but year-round."

Nelson says other states have formed partnerships with private companies.