Merely permitting public access to property other than streets or parks, however, does not open the facility for use as a public forum.
Greer v. Spock, 424 U.S. at 836, 96 S.Ct. at 1216. The place or its intended use must somehow render the facility appropriate for expression. For example, a public meeting for discussion of a pending teachers' contract clearly created a public forum (albeit a limited one) in the school property where it was held.
City of Madison Joint School District v. Wisconsin Public Employment Relations Commission, 429 U.S. 167, 174-76, 97 S.Ct. 421, 425-426, 50 L.Ed.2d 376 (1976). A public forum may also be created when the use is less directly related to public debate. In
Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 95 S.Ct. 1239, 43 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975), a theater under lease to the City of Chattanooga was found to be a public forum. Presenting plays and shows was sufficiently related to public expression that the city could not arbitrarily exclude the musical “Hair.”
Id. at 555, 95 S.Ct. at 1245. In
Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, 452 U.S. 640, 101 S.Ct. 2559, 69 L.Ed.2d 298 (1981), the Supreme Court assumed without discussion that the Minnesota State Fair constituted a public forum.
Id. at 651, 655, 101 S.Ct. at 2565-2566, 2567. The fair was intended to showcase “the agricultural, stock-breeding, horticultural, mining, mechanical, industrial, and other products and resources of the state, including proper exhibits and expositions of the arts, human skills and sciences.”
Id. at 643, 101 S.Ct. at 2561. Although the fair was not literally set aside for debate of public issues, it still was an appropriate place for expression and constituted a public forum. The state could not ban all expressive activity, although it could impose reasonable time, place and manner restrictions-such as restricting solicitation to booths.
Id. at 655 n. 16, 101 S.Ct. at 2568 n. 16.