Will Discuss Contract With Representatives From An Attraction South Of Gary, IN For Hosting The Event

The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority (SSCVA) is moving ahead with plans to hold the South Shore Air Show at Fair Oaks Farms about 40 miles south of Gary, IN despite criticism from local elected officials about the move.

The SSCVA board will meet December 9 to begin contract negotiations with the agriculture-themed tourist attraction. SSCVA president Speros Batistatos said that he expects it will be the first of many meetings that he hopes will lead to a finalized contract for the show.

But the move has been controversial. Hammond, IN Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. called the move a "travesty."

The online news site Hammondcommunity.net reports that Batistatos said that the move represents the best opportunity for the show to break even. In the past, he said that about 90 percent of those watching the show did so for free, and they were only capturing 10 percent of the potential revenue. "It's an unsustainable business model," he said.

Batistatos said that the information that comes out of this and future meetings will make the case for moving the show to the new location, and "focus people on a dialogue that's focused on reason and intelligence, not emotion and disinformation."

FMI: www.southshorecva.com/airshow/