Art Mackenzie appears to have bought two more racing seasons for Calgary motorsport fans. After that, under a tentative deal reached last Thursday, Race City Motorsports will close its doors for the last time.
Unless, of course, the situation changes. And there is at least a good bet (even odds, I’d say) that it will.
The wild card in this poker game is the October civic election. Mayor Dave Bronconnier has already announced he will seek another term in the big chair. The best bet for an opponent during the October campaign is Ric McIver, who has been Race City’s staunchest supporter on City Council.
The motorsport community is already plenty unhappy with Bronconnier. Racers and motorsport fans are convinced Bronco has endorsed the City administration’s treatment of Race City every step of the way. Naturally, they’re upset at the prospect of losing their track. The mayor twice voted in Council against honouring Race City’s lease and has spoken against the lease in the media.
But what has really enraged race enthusiasts is City Hall’s arrogance toward Western Canada’s largest motorsport facility and what is a significant business in southeast Calgary. Bureaucrats hid behind the Freedom of Information Act and refused to answer questions about the need to expand Shepard Landfill onto the Race City property. They have made doing business as difficult as possible for the track; for example, closing all entrances but one during the upgrading of 68 Street S.E.
And after Council voted last September (over Bronconnier’s objections) to instruct the administration to negotiate a new lease with Race City, the first offer included increasing annual lease payments from $37,000 to $1,080,000, a whopping 3,000 per cent rise that would have been impossible for the facility to pay.
Calgary motorsport fans lay the blame for this outrageous behavior at Bronconnier’s feet and they’re convinced he has to go. And they’re prepared to dedicate money and time to ensuring he loses in October.
Now, let’s assume McIver runs for mayor. A couple thousand motivated campaign workers are at his disposal. The mayoral fight promises to be a vicious scrap for a very plum position and those motorsport fans could be the difference in a closely contested race.
If McIver wins you can bet representatives of the auto racing community will be knocking on the new mayor’s door wondering what he can do to help create a more stable home for their sport. McIver would really have only two options: arrange to have the City negotiate a longer, more secure lease for Race City or help investors find a land for a new facility, probably outside the City of Calgary limits.
The latter option is not likely. Mackenzie estimates a new track would cost in the neighborhood of $50 million. Then there’s the NIMBY factor because race tracks make a lot of noise. Both considerations argue against the construction of a new track in a reasonable timeframe.
Which leaves Race City as the only viable option. But there are problems.
Mackenzie has indicated behind the scenes that he’s ready to move on. The former Canadian rally champion has a young family he’d like to spend more time with. And the facility is not in great shape. Whoever takes it over would have to spend some serious money to upgrade both the tracks and the amenities.
His stated preference is to sell or even just turn over the business to a non-profit organization, presumably one operated by the Calgary motorsport community. With all respect to the individuals who work tirelessly to promote and support their sport, I don’t see the political or organizational capacity to run Race City. These are people who have full-time jobs and many also have commitments to their own race team.
And then there’s the matter of money.
Automotive enthusiasts seem to fall into two categories. Those with lots of bucks and those who race for the love of the sport. My observation is that motorsport in Calgary is mostly organized by the guys without the bucks. People with fat wallets drive their exotic cars at Race City a few times a year, but otherwise aren’t too involved. The hardcore racers are blue collar guys (and a fair smattering of gals) who twist their own wrenches and spend every spare penny for the thrill of going fast.
Unless a wealthy benefactor or two stepped up, which seems unlikely to happen, I’m doubtful enough money could be raised to build a new facility.
Despite the elation after last September’s supportive Council motion, much remains to be done to save motorsport in Calgary. Council’s instruction to its administration to conclude negotations with Mackenzie is just a small step toward a greater prize. To revive the sport and put it on a solid foundation for the future still requires a great deal of hard work.
Everyone I have talked to agrees that the key player over the next one to two years will be the motorsport community. Regardless of what happens with Mackenzie and Race City, the community must organize itself better and capable leaders must come to the fore. Those leaders must create a vision for Calgary motosport and then they must have the oranizational and financial wherewithal to implement that vision.
Consider this column a challenge to those leaders.
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Markham has a very good understanding of the makeup of the racing community, and the situation facing us both now and in 2 years.
To acquire another site would be very difficult, and to build new from scratch in 2012 will be prohibitively expensive for the collective “user” organizations. If the stars align, and with a lot of hard work, it might be possible to build a $5-$10 million roadcourse and dragstrip somewhere, but a facility of this magnitude would not compare to Race City, and would certainly not be able to host large events. The $50 million ballpark is more realistic for a “real” new facility (and for the full meal deal, see the $100 million US facility at Miller Motorsports Park).
In the absence of a wealthy benefactor (Larry Miller north?), our first realistic option and goal must be to have Race City stay in place. In this situation, a bird in hand is worth 10 or 20 in the bush. A $5 or $10 million injection to Race City would result in a facility that could take $50+ million to build elsewhere. Since the lease issue with the City is the main stumbling block, it is imperative that we use 2010 to support the council members (and mayoral candidate) that are pro-Race City. If and when the motorsports community can resolve the lease issue (and that’s a big if), the next step would be to revitalize the ownership, infrastructure, and funding issues for the present location. That just might be possible with the rumors of financial support that I hear floating around, but without the present location, siting difficulties and capital costs will go up by a factor of 10 or more.
Motorsports supporters – you need to take an active role in the 2010 Calgary civic election if we are to have any realistic hope of having a racing venue in Calgary in the long term.