Well maybe no Cricket yet but the Drome is in pretty bad shape. Today was repair day at the track and the news continues to not be good. Mother nature has definitely taken a toll on the old gray lady. Water is a bitch! 
The repair team included Bob, Skibby, Big Dave, Sickboy, Brain, Hammie (didn't catch his name but he's the dude who detached his hamstring), Ben "The Spade" Dubay, the lovely Gwen, and a few others. We focused on the "bad ones" which included sunken boards due to rot and lifted boards from checking and splitting. The rotten boards masked an even bigger problem below - rotten trusses. We addressed other problem spots by removing the top layer of the boards and re-skinned them with new mahogany.Seeing the real condition of the track really points out the need to start a major effort to beginning planning for its replacement. The big problem is obviously money. One great way would be to have a large donor or company channel a bunch of money into the project but that's probably not going to be easy. You could go for state money - good luck with the current state of budget issues and I would image that route would take a long time. The most realistic approach would be to start raising money the hard way, through little bits and bites. I went to a fund-raiser for a local heart program last night and a Greg LeMond package deal of a men's and women's bike and a ride with Greg went for $16,000! How about a big fund-raiser dinner with silent and live auctions? There were plenty of deep pockets at that event and they raised a million bucks. Cycling folks aren't generally that well to do but you have to start somewhere, maybe it takes two years.
Questions - How was the track funded in the beginning? How much would a new covered track cost? Where would a new track go? I know this isn't a new discussion but the time is now!
10 comments:
i hate this fricken discussion every year.
lets also not forget that the track is having record numbers AND record attendance.
so it is not all dire straights out in blaine.
if we continue to reinforce this we won't get anywhere....
organize a silent auction and i will donate some Nelson Vails merchandise.
Sorry SR!
Who said all was dire at the track? Your dreamland of record attendance and participation magically making all the problems with the track's structural issues go away ain't going to make things happen.
Don't reinforce reality? Where are things going SR? I'm not trying to be an ass or anything, just looking for info. Are there any plans? I've only raced there three times but I would be willing to contribute to an effort to plan for it's overhaul or replacement. The track is a luxury for our community and we shouldn't let it slip away.
What are your ideas?
sr, not dire straights as far as use...
but as far as condition? yep.
we've all seen the boards.
any fund raising would be good, i think that is all the nsc/mcf booth should be about at the expo in march.
we don't get new racers out of a booth at the expo, but we might get some corporate sponsorship!
*basically, the track is f'd.
*we need a new one soon.
*it would ideally be as close to the city as possible, but a small town community would be good too. (i.e. t-town and kenosha), maybe st.cloud? or northfield?
*to build one like we have, and have it enclosed, bob says is like 10 million bucks. plus ongoing expenses.
*a 333m concrete would be cheaper.
bob wants to stay with the world-class velodrome, and i agree... but if it's a concrete one or nothing, i'll vote concrete.
*i think it would have to be built in conjuction with something like a bmx track. (you know, something that will actually make money).
the problem is two-fold, getting the money, and continuing to generate money.
no one wants to invest in a money pit. (except us!)
sr is right, this conversation has been done to death, but it has to be. otherwise it's over.
I wouldn't say the physical condition of the track is necessarily in dire straits. Most of us, after yesterday's work, tend to think that 5-10 additional years out of the current track is definitely possible.
It'll take some scabbing of the support trusses (particularly low on the track) but our resident engineer Dave Thimsen has some great ideas about how to do that. As per usual, it'll take some $$$ and some sweat equity on the part of volunteers - b/c as we all know, it'll never get done by any NSC staff (other than people named Williams or Tainter).
Agreed that the racer participation and the growing program is at a high water mark - and it's certainly beneficial to keep it growing. Participation DOES have an impact on the perceived feasibility of a replacement. And in the meantime, as we continue to keep our track standing - the work to get logistics and $$$ figured out for a replacement is critical.
I could write a 10 page dissertation on this, but the easiest way to convey the information is to come to the upcoming track meetings we will be having this fall. And after crawling under the track yesterday, it's not in as bad a shape as conveyed. I think we can get another 10 years out of it, with routine maintenance. Next Saturday we will be fixing more boards...
You should go take some after pictures, after we were done yesterday, looking good!!!
I know this is a recurring discussion and I agree with nearly all the comments. The "direness" was mostly a joke related to recent posts about cricket. The truth is, it's not good. How long? Who knows. Bob threw out 2-3yrs, is it 5, is it 10? Not my point. The point that we all agree on is that it is inevitable and we must act now because it will take a long time to raise the necessary funds. If time will be our friend, participation continues to grow, and we start now it is doable. Take a look at the fricken skatepark in Richfield - how the heck did they pay for that?!
I look forward to continuing the discussion in a forum more conducive to action than my crappy blog.
I hate to say it, but "raising funds" is not going to get us a new track. How the hell are we going to raise $10 mil?
Bake Sale?
Charge $500K for the track class?
We aren't. If it was possible for a small group of dedicated people to raise $10 mil in a couple of years, everyone would be doing it.
We need either govt. funds or a sugar daddy. It's been said before, but there needs to be a lobbying effort.
The $10,000 track
Go to a municipal auction and pick up a grader for $6,000. Or better yet, get the municipality to give you an old one. Get some public land.
1- Build banked track. (Haul in clay if necessary)
2 - Schedule regular races.
3 - ???
4 - Profit.
hey anonymous -
if it's such an ingenious idea and so profitable - why haven't you done it yet?
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