Race City about to get screwed by City Hall

[Ironhorse]

Looks like Race City will be done after this year. A real shame, as it also provided a good outlet for people to "prove" their cars in a safe environment as opposed to on the city streets.

It seems that Bronco and his buddies at City Council can do what they want, even though it would appear that Race City had a lease for at least another 15 years.

According to Mr. Mackenzie, the lease has been re-negotiated several times since the track opened in the early 1980s. The current version requires the lessee (Race City) to notify the City every five years of its intention to extend the lease for an additional five years. In 2000 Mr. Mackenzie says he filed the appropriate documents with City Hall indicating his desire to lease the land from 2005 to 2010. He did the same in 2005 for 2010 to 2015.

Now here comes an important point: when he filed in the past, Mr. Mackenzie says he never once received a written acknowledgement that the documents were received or that the City agreed to extend the lease. Instead, his lease manager would call him up and say everything’s ok. Oh, and one other point. The City kept cashing his cheques.

Sometime in mid-decade the Alberta government changed its environmental regulations. The pressure was on to build a storm water retention pond for the Shepard Landfill. Conveniently, Race City was right next door.

What about that pesky lease to 2025? According to Mr. Mackenzie, he was told his lease agent no longer worked for the City and they couldn’t find his documents.

Furthermore, and here’s the real kicker, the City now claimed that the lease had expired in 2000, that none of the extensions had been acted upon and Race City had been allowed to overrun its lease out of the goodness of the City’s flinty little heart. Never mind that Mr. Mackenzie had been told several times by the City lease agent that his lease was in good order and that the extensions had been filed properly.

http://www.secalgarynews.com/opinion...-by-city-hall/

I guess Mr. Mackenzie should have been more insistent on written verification by the bureaucrats.

[HotHotHeat]

Does this mean we won't have to listen to motorsport Mondays anymore?

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Does this mean we won't have to listen to motorsport Mondays anymore?

If closing Race City means Dave Rowe no longer has a job, I'm all for it

[Locke]

Not a huge loss. To be fair, RC had a monopoly in Calgary and for your money they offered a very unremarkable degree of service.

When I'm staring down a concrete barrier because they decide that VHT is too expensive for anything more than the first 30 feet I get bitter.

[Circa89]

Locke I know your disdain for Race City but it was the only track we had. I was "with" Race City since before day one and it was a first class facility back in the day. We had the Nascar NorthWest Tour come by for the inagural Players 500, Formula Atlantics and The Players Challenge and Honda/ Michelin Series were real first class series. I guess The Track had fallen into serious disrepair in the last half decade or so but how viable is a state of the art track in Calgary? When you have a rainy summer and the big events get canceled it's tough to make a profit let alone break even. So I understand that it may not have been up to spec but it will be a long, long time before any facility remotely emulates what Race City provided the motorsport enthusiasts in Calgary.
Players/GM Series Circa 1989

[Draug]

For Christmas this year, my wife bought me a day of race school at Race City on the road course.

The company also has setups in Toronto, and other American cities.

Will the quality of Race City disappoint me, or will it be alright? Should I plan on doing it in Phoenix instead?

[Julio]

Meh...Race City has been going slowly downhill for several years now. If I'm not mistaken they shut down early for anything by private bookings this year, and it's once preeminent position in stock car racing in Western Canada is definitely no more. Heck, the new track in Saskatoon seems more stable, and the guys who run Rocky Mountain Raceway down by Okotoks seem to have a better handle on how to run the race business.

[SportsJunky]

Isn't there supposed to be a new race track going up by the Cross Iron Mills project in Balzac? I know there is a horce track on tap but I thought there was going to be an auto racing track also.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I guess Mr. Mackenzie should have been more insistent on written verification by the bureaucrats.

"A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on."

Yeah, he's getting jerked around, but he's also a complete f'ing idiot for not ensuring he had paperwork to document that is business has a valid lease. He allowed himself to get into this position.

[Daradon]

As others in the thread have commented, I'd feel a lot worse about it if RC had been keeping itself up.

Plus, we obviously need that retention pond.

Perhaps losing the facility will encourage someone to build a newer one sometime down the road?

I don't like the way the city handled it though, does seem a bit underhanded.

[burn_this_city]

Pretty sad in my opinion. I'll miss the friday night secret street races. For $25 you can run your car/truck in the 1/4 mile as many times as the lineup will allow

[cKy]

MY buddy used to use this a few years back. We would go and smuggle in some drinks (I somewhat remember they didnt allow booze to be sold on those nights) and watch the kids drag there crap boxes. Also, getting killed by mosquitoes was good times too.

I used to frequent the track heavily as a kid since my dad worked the tow truck there. I hate car racing, so it was way more fun to go under the bleachers and find money..... and other dirty things that im sure Fotze could describe.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Isn't there supposed to be a new race track going up by the Cross Iron Mills project in Balzac? I know there is a horce track on tap but I thought there was going to be an auto racing track also.

As far as I know, the nearest track to Calgary now is supposedly being built in Rimbey. And its supposed to be pretty sweet.

After the RC debacle, I'll go and have a look before I ever take my car.

[burn_this_city]

I dont really see what was so terrible about RC.. For $25/night I dont think anyone should expect a lot. They repaved the strip 2 years ago, the road course is a mess in sections but the rest of the facility is good.

[jus_sum_guy]

RC gave MOST people a safe place to show off their cars. With it gone, I wouldn't be surprised if more "kids" took it to the streets again!

[Ford Prefect]

Who needs RC when Calgary has Deerfoot.