After two months without power, the electricity has been switched back on at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, and its CEO credits a Stocktonia story with prompting the rapid and overwhelming response that saved the day.
If the deadline had not been met, CEO Daniel Castillo said he would have been forced into hard choices about how to put on the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival, scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The fairgrounds had been scraping by with portable diesel generators, inadequate for staging major events. The Asparagus Festival typically attracts 30,000 visitors — and it’s only the start of event season. Cinco de Mayo, the county fair and AgFest are among the big events on tap over the next three months.
Castillo had set a deadline of April 7 for workers to restore power to the facility. He had been granted the $250,000 needed for emergency repairs, but was racing against time to see whether the work could be completed.
After Stocktonia broke the story Wednesday morning and it was picked up by other news outlets, Castillo said crews jumped into action. Pacific Gas & Electric dispatched 15 trucks and a large crew of workers to the fairgrounds , working well into the night.
PG&E was charged with conducting the repairs in concert with the California Construction Authority, a Sacramento-based firm specializing in fairgrounds.
The power was back on by the weekend.
“Stocktonia has played a major role in getting power on (in time for) the Asparagus Festival,” Castillo said. The festival “is going to happen in large part because of your guys’ reporting.”
Now comes the next phase.
It’s not clear how long the temporary repairs will last, news that wasn’t reassuring for promoters wanting to book their events at the fairgrounds.
Castillo said it’s going to take $2.2 million for permanent power repairs at the aging facility, which has many buildings dating to the 1950s and ′60s. He told Stocktonia last week he has been in touch with state lawmakers and county officials about trying to get the money budgeted.
Among his arguments: The fairgrounds aren’t just for fun. They’ve become a gathering place for people during times of disaster. Santa Cruz County’s fairgrounds in Watsonville sheltered people during the storms that lashed the coast in 2023, he noted. Likewise, Ventura County was filled with horses and livestock during the 2024 Mountain Fire for burned more than 130 homes.
“We’ve gotten past the emergency,” Castillo said, “but we’re looking for the future.”