Residents from Airdrie and Rocky View attended an open house April 1, held by the Rockyview Motorsports Park (RMP), at the Best Western Airdrie Inn.
RMP officials are hoping to establish a world-class “European-style driving course half a mile northeast of Airdrie.
The proposed 640-acre facility would include a 4.0-kilometre road course designed by internationally-renowned German designer TILKE GmbH.
Organizers estimated 150 people attended the open house.
Calgarian Derek Sandilands is a motorcycle racer. He said he attended the open house to see what the plans for the race track were.
“I wanted to see if it’s real,” he said.
“It’s one thing to see a website, another thing to see plans, because there have been rumours of tracks for years.”
Sandilands has been racing for more than 30 years. He still uses tracks in the province, but doesn’t compete.
For Sandilands, motorcycle racing is a hobby turned obsession.
“I used to race at Race City in Calgary from 1987 until it closed using track days and at motorcycle events,” he said.
Race City Motorsport Park, was in operation since 1985 on City-owned land at 114th Avenue and 68th St. S.E.
The facility boasted a quarter mile drag racing strip, two-mile, 11-turn road course and a short oval. Race City closed in October 2011 after 26 years.
Shelley Steffensen, a drag racing enthusiast, was disappointed with the open house.
“I wanted to know about the drag strip,” she said.
“I’m really disappointed there isn’t a drag strip. I think they forgot about Calgary’s drag racing population.”
Steffensen has been drag racing for 20 years for fun.
She said she raced at Race City for years, as it was a safe venue, but when it closed, had to travel to Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway, formerly Capital City Raceway Park, to race. The multi-track auto racing facility hosts national competitions each year.
Drag racers Jason Born and Anne-Marie Bernier said they too were disappointed.
“We’ve been involved in motorsports for 20 years,” Born said.
“Tonight is a bit of a let down. I’ve lived in Airdrie for 38 years, raced motorcross for 16 and drag for seven. It would be nice not to have to go to Edmonton.”
Bernier said Calgary’s Race City used to bring 200 to 300 people out on Saturday nights, and give them a safe environment in which to race.
The park was family-oriented, and events were often standing room only.
“This new park is a playground for rich people,” Bernier said.
“There’s nowhere for spectators, nothing for people to come watch. It’s very disappointing.”
Born echoed Bernier’s remarks, saying the RMP won’t cater to average people who want to race.
According to plans, the RMP would also include karting facilities, car condos, garages, a clubhouse, automotive service operations, a Calgary Police Service driving training centre and community recreational facilities. Although the park doesn’t include a drag strip, plans suggest a shorter track configuration that could be used by stock cars.
“It’s an expensive proposition to put in a drag strip,” said Dominic Young, president and chief executive of RMP.
“We would have to do a lot of earthwork to dampen the noise from a drag strip. You drop the drag strip down and build up big berms on the side. No one was willing to step up to fund the drag strip.”
Although there is unused land on the proposed site, a drag racing strip would have to go through an entirely separate application process, Young said.
“Is it possible? Yes, but it’s certainly not in the plans for now.”
Eleven-year-old Chris Newland came to the open house to get a sense of what the park could offer him. Newland is a go-kart racer, who has been racing for the last four years. His father, Larry Newland said the family came to learn if there will be a karting track at the new facility.
“It looks like the karting track will be a viable option for the long-term,” he said.
“Go-karting gets kids off the street.”
Chris said he’s excited about the new motorsports park, and hopes to race there some day.
“Go-karting is difficult and challenging, you want to be as good as you can,” he said.
For the park’s Rocky View County neighbours, noise was a big concern and the reason many attended the open house. Doreen Garland’s first thought when she heard about the motorsports park was “Will it make a lot of noise?”
“I was concerned about noise and about the traffic along the road, so I came out to see,” she said, adding that she lives north of the proposed facility. “We live half a mile away. Who will monitor noise levels?”
For Airdrie resident Brian Hanet, the open house allowed him to learn more about the project. He said he’s excited to see a racetrack back in southern Alberta, and wonders if the park would offer a racing experience like Las Vegas’s Exotic’s Racing on the Las Vegas Speedway.
“I think the park will draw a lot of users,” he said. “It looks like an awesome plan. I hope to race my own car there.”
Rocky View resident Ben Thorlakson is the current owner of the property where the RMP could be located.
“These guys approached me two years ago, and I thought, ‘what a grand vision.’ “I like the idea,” he said. “Having the driver training track is wonderful. I like the idea that the police service has a place to train.
“I really can’t see that the noise of the operation (will be a problem), I don’t think anyone would hear it,” he said.
Thorlakson’s nearest neighbour to the property is three quarters of a mile away. He owns several of the quarter sections on the south side, to the east, northeast, and southeast.
He has been farming barley, canola, feed wheat and wheat on his land for years. Thorlakson grew wheat on the quarter section of property, which could be home to the RMP in the future.
One of the ideas floated at the open house, was that the track could be used for cyclists at certain times of day. Thorlakson believes that would be a good addition to the project.
“I applaud these guys (RMP) for showing vision,” he said.
Thus far, the Rockyview Motorsports Park has completed a historical resource impact assessment, a biophysical impact assessment, a geotechnical evaluation, a traffic impact assessment, a utility servicing brief, a drainage study, a noise impact assessment, and a regional impact assessment. A Master Site development plan and land use designation were submitted to the County recently. Expected completion date of the Rockyview Motorsports Park is late 2015.
For more information, visit www.rockyviewmotorsports.com
