Throughout 1967 and up until the opening of Cal Expo, local media provided those living in the region with information about the future and continual status of the site. With only a year prior to the opening of Cal Expo, the race began to have the grounds and its buildings completed in time for the 1968 State Fair. The ceremony also included performances by the University of California, Davis band. Ronald Reagan then helped lower it onto the base, which was created with sand from all 58 California counties.Ībove the Reagans and other attendees, fireworks were launched, aerial rockets exploded and small American flags attached to little parachutes made their way to the ground. While Ronald and Nancy Reagan remained standing next to the plaque, a crane lowered a large, heavy, outline map of the state of California toward a concrete base. ‘To serve the needs of the people of California.’ Dedicated May 22, 1967. The event culminated as Reagan, with his wife Nancy at his side, unveiled a dedicatory, bronze plaque, which read: “California Exposition.
We are providing an exposition that will show all heritage, spirit and culture of the state of California.” The state is ready for it and it cannot fail. Albert Rodda, who authored the legislation for Cal Expo in 1963, also spoke at the ceremony, saying, “I am confident of (Cal Expo’s) success. The ceremony, which was held on a very hot day, in which temperatures reached 106 degrees on the platform and 103 degrees in the shade, drew 300 people, including various state officials and other distinguished guests.ĭuring his brief speech, Reagan told the crowd that Cal Expo would represent “the best of the past, in which the State Fair (would) preserve a slice of Americana and it (would) be a window into the future.”Ĭalifornia Sen. on a platform at the base of the American River levee. Ronald Reagan during a 25-minute ceremony, which began at 2 p.m.
On May 22, 1967, the new, 630-acre fair site was dedicated by then-Gov. One of the most notable events leading to the opening of Cal Expo occurred prior to the 1967 California State Fair, which was the last State Fair held at the old fairgrounds. It was not until the early 1960s, however, that funds were allocated and more specific planning began for the construction of the Cal Expo fair site, which would replace the Stockton Boulevard fair site, which opened in 1909. The road to the creation of Cal Expo began with the state’s 1948 purchase of 1,000 undeveloped acres, which would partially be used as the site of the new fairgrounds. It has been 41 years since the opening of Cal Expo, which as part of the proposed land swap would be sold at market value and be redeveloped.
With the January 14 news that the National Basketball Association and the owners of the Sacramento Kings are backing a proposal featuring a three-way land swap that would include a new sports and entertainment complex on the city’s portion of the historic downtown rail yard and a new fairgrounds at the site of Arco Arena, the timing is right to take a trip down memory lane to when Cal Expo became a part of the community.
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