Track supporters say the city and a few politically connected residents of the area have been trying to get the track shut down for years, and it looks like they've finally succeeded. The neighbors' main complaint: The track is loud. "They believe it diminishes property values, and it’s loud and it’s noisy, and it constitutes a nuisance," said attorney Mark Epstein, who hasn't been hired by the group KCIR supporters but is advising them.
But even revving engines and squealing tires aren't valid complaints, KCIR supporters say. The track, which opened in 1967, has been in the sparsely populated neighborhood near Raytown longer than most of the residents.
“You don’t get to move next to a pig farm and then complain about the smell," Epstein said.
The sale, Epstein said, is a de facto condemnation, following years of increasing restrictions on racers and escalating code enforcement.
"It’s my understanding that the property was threatened to be condemned if they didn’t sell. So that begs the question of whether this was truly voluntary," Epstein said.
Without the city hounding them, he said, the track would likely remain open.
Track manager Todd Bridges told the crowd that there's nothing wrong with parks, but there is room in Kansas City for parks and the raceway. Families that participate in more mainstream recreation like soccer, football and tennis will benefit from a park at the expense of auto racing. "They’re allowed to pursue their passion, and that’s what we would like the opportunity to do," Bridges said.
Despite the outpouring of support Monday night, there was a sense among the KCIR faithful that this was a fight City Hall was going to win.
"Knowing who is behind it, on the other side of it, [their chances] are probably pretty slim. But we got to keep our hope up," said Perry Clark of Blue Springs, while smoking a cigarette huddled under an umbrella.
Clark's friend John Richardson had the same sense.
"The first time I went out to that track, I was probably 11 or 12 years old. My uncle took me out there. I seen the cars and stuff and fell in love with it," Richardson said. He believes the move to close the track is the result of political deal making. "It’s nothing but old-fashioned cronyism," he said, noting the land is near the Little Blue River, and an odd choice to build a park. “Last I knew that was all flood plain property," he said. "Why would the city want to spend all this money on a park that’s in a flood plain?”
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The fact is that the current owners could of not ask the city to sell because the people who own the track now didn't own it in Jan. They bought it in March 2011.
Hey folks stop blaming the city for the sale of the track. All of the stories about condemnation
are Bull. The mayor stated today that the current owners approached the city in Jan. 2011
to sell the track. True the city had code issues with the building built on the west side of the track without the proper permits. They were told to make the building comply by installing electrical power, exit light, and a few lights throughout the building. A few thousand dollars at most. This is what the threats were about.
A chemical plant, hog farm, or any other business cannot simply be told to quit operating because the neighbors don't like you, you have to give the city a reason to shut you down. The track has been aware of these problems for four years.
This was about the owners making Big Bucks off buying and reselling the track in less than one year. Too bad one of these people seems to bo our NHRA Div. 5 director, the guy who works for the NHRA to promote our sport and help it to thrive. We are being sold out for money. not the city forcing a fifty year business to close it's doors. I,along with many other people have paid thousands of dollars to the NHRA throughthe years and it really makes me angry to think one of their employees is selling us out for greed. Everybody needs to coll the NHRA headquarters in Glendora,
CA. and voice your concerns, anger, dispair, disbelief. Ask them what they can do about Rob Parks selling out all of Kansas City/ NHRA racers. If we don't do this we may all have made our last pass down KCIR.
KCIR Racer
It seems that the city has forgotten why KCIR was built with thier approval and prase. There was a lot of teens getting killed on city streets racing. KCIR was built to give them a safe place to race. This hasn't changed. Give a teenager a car and he or she will race it. When thier kids and thier friends kids start dieing they will wish they had left KCIR alone.
I really don't have anything against the racing community but I can tell you it isn't just the well-connected people in the community that are bothered by KCIR. I used to live near there and have a number of family members who live in the area, several of whom moved there in the 1950s so they moved to a quiet area only to have the raceway come in in the late 60s. No one asked them if they wanted that kind of noise pollution every weekend and some weeknights. And they were too polite to complain. The fact that the raceway is in a valley means that the noise echos and travels all the way up to Lee's Summit Road. If you haven't lived in that area, you don't know what kind of noise the residents have been dealing with for so many years.
KCIR should get a historic landmark status, and im not even a race fan. And like Dave mentioned , it should be upgraded and used for other non race type events when possible. SAVE KCIR!!
The City could use the track as a revenue generator........ Buy it, make upgrades and find off season uses such as concerts and car shows....This could be a huge shot in the ass for this sorry ass "City Government". They will claim it's a liability issue..... But how is it anymore of a liability issue then a skate park or a broken down sidewalk?
It's just too bad that these race fans weren't paying closer attention to city government. This is exactly the same crap the city has been pulling for years. The poor get to pay taxes to entertain the rich.
There will be plenty of lost revenue for some in this deal, but I'll bet none of it will even be realized to the city council or their developer buddies.
This all started when the damn Kemper family bought the old Pendergast mansion on the hill.
Them uppity Kempers think they are too good to live near a race track, and what do they do?
By a house by a race track.
Smart huh?
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