Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 2, 1992 TAG: 9201020120
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ROANOKE'S PROFIT FROM RACES SMALL
The first year of stock-car racing in Victory Stadium generated $11,403 for Roanoke, a fraction of what race promoter Whitey Taylor predicted when he asked City Council for permission to hold a series of races last summer.Gary Fenton, manager of parks and recreation for the city, said Tuesday that the races produced $9,456 from the rental of the stadium and concession sales, plus another $1,947 in admission taxes. The city's net came to $7,675 because it spent $3,728 for employees to help get the stadium ready, oversee the races and clean up afterward.
In addition to the direct costs, Fenton said he and other salaried city employees spent a lot of time on the racing issue that is not included in the direct expense category.
"It's hard to estimate how much that would be," Fenton said.
Taylor had predicted that racing in the stadium could produce $50,000 to $75,000 to a year for the city, but he said Tuesday he was not discouraged by the city's take.
"That's money that [city officials] didn't have before," Taylor said. "It'll take three or four years to build up to the crowds and the gates that we think we can have in the stadium."
Races at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., often cited as similar to Roanoke's Victory Stadium, generate about $140,000 a year in rental and concession sales for the city, he said.
Despite the low gate receipts and small crowds, Taylor said he still plans to ask City Council for permission to hold weekly races in That's money that [city officials] didn't have before. It'll take three or four years to build up to the crowds and the gates that we think we can have in the stadium. Whitey Taylor Racing promoter the stadium this summer. "We need a regular schedule to help build up the crowds," he said.
Several council members have said that although they might be willing to allow the stadium to be used more frequently for racing this year, they would be reluctant to approve weekly races.
Paid attendance steadily declined for the three trial races in the stadium last summer.
On Memorial Day, 3,506 people paid to see the races. On July 5, the paid attendance dropped to 1,953, and on Labor Day, it was 1,342.
Free admission to children younger than 10 and hundreds of promotional tickets increased the crowd numbers.
The four councilmen who voted for racing in the stadium said they didn't do it for money.
They said the city should make the stadium available to racing fans as well as those who like other sports and cultural events.
"We wanted to diversify the entertainment," Councilman James Harvey said Tuesday.
If the city made money off the races, that would be fine, they said, but that was not the reason they approved Taylor's request.
Harvey said he agreed with Taylor that the three trial races didn't provide a fair estimate of the revenue that can be produced by regular racing.
"You can't base it on just three races," Harvey said.
Still to be addressed is a request by council members to move the public-address speakers so they won't disturb neighborhood residents.
They have asked City Manager Bob Herbert to determine the cost and feasibility of moving the speakers from the north end to the south end of the stadium.
The sound of the speakers was one of the chief complaints by South Roanoke residents. The speakers created more disturbance than the sound of the cars, they said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING