June 2021 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN June 2021 Page 15 By Suzanne Bush There has been some conten- tious grumbling in recent weeks about the state of the state’s Farm Show Complex. Lawmakers are anxious to reopen the Complex for shows, exhibits and fairs, but it remains closed, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Groups that host events at the Complex are anxious to get on with things and put this whole pandemic in the rear-view mirror. The Complex is housing the state’s vast supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)—the gear that protects health care workers and front-line workers as they fulfill their critical jobs in hospitals, fire departments, police departments, grocery stores, etc. Pennsylvania purchased some of the equipment and received more equipment from the Federal government. In aggregate, there is a lot of stuff—critical invento- ry to be sure, and a reflection of Governor Tom Wolf’s intent to ensure that Pennsylvania is not caught short in the event of future health crises. Pennsylvania’s General Services Secretary Curt Topper told state legislators that there’s so much PPE stockpiled in the Complex that “it will take months of 17 or 18 truckloads a day to move all of the material in the stockpile to another facility.” He said that the goal is to move the stockpile of PPE by this fall. As if a pandemic were not bad enough, with businesses and schools shuttered, the loss of revenue from the events that have been canceled since March 2020 has provided legislators with one more bone of contention on which to gnaw. But the situation is not as simple as just flinging the doors open and welcoming the farm shows and horse shows and 4H events back to this sprawling, million-square-foot complex. The Persistence of the Pandemic Lawmakers have wondered why all this PPE is in the Farm Show Complex in the first place? And in the second place, when is it going to move out? Good questions. The Complex has been designated as a distribution center in the state’s emergency plans. That is not new. Topper and others in the Department of Agriculture recognize the need to find a secure warehouse for the PPE. And Top- per has said that he wants to move the PPE but needs the legislature to approve the cost of renting a facility and moving the PPE there. Beyond that, though, there are the unknown variables related to COVID-19. As more peo- ple get vaccinated, events like horse shows are less likely to be super-spreader events. But the target doesn’t stand still, and ulti- mately the government’s respon- sibility is to ensure the safety of its citizens by analyzing risks and deciding sensible paths forward. (Continued on page 18) Packed with the State’s PPE, the Farm Show Complex Plans to Reopen