Concord in the midst of major changes?

[Justadude]

I think that was irritates me most about this whole thing is the renaming of the street for Bruton Smith. I think that you shouldn't name a street after someone who is alive for one thing, and doing so will have absolutely no bearing on the actual speedway or any projects around it.

It occurred to me this morning that what Smith has done to Cabarrus is, in some respects, even more offensive that what George Shinn did to Charlotte -- the only difference being that Smith had a better reputation prior to his "give me handouts or I'll leave you out in the cold" outburst. At least Shinn's demands were purely financial in nature, and didn't involve an attempt to name a public road after himself or dictate the county's infrastructure agenda. I'm surprised that no local columnist has picked up on the similarity of the two situations.

[Andyc545]

I thought the naming of the street was a joke.... Jeesh, what a bunch of suckers....

[Bled_man]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure that naming the street after Bruton was the city of Concord's idea, not Bruton's.

[AuLukey]

I mean, afterall, he did pay for half of that road out-of-pocket.

[Neo]

Looks like it is official, the NC Transportation Board voted unanimously to rename Speedway Blvd. to Bruton Smith Blvd. This was my last ray of hope to have this over-the-top request denied but it looks like that won't happen.

Also, from what I'm hearing the decision regarding the widening of Hwy. 29 has been that it will be widened to George Liles/Roberta Church? I've not heard mention of it terminating at Pitts School since before this controversy came to an end, all I've heard is the George Liles termination point.

[Raintree21]

The Cabarrus County Tourism Authority board voted today to recommend an increase in the hotel room tax from 5% to 6% to increase their revenue stream in anticpation of impending projects.

[Justadude]

^ What kind of purposes could that money be used for? Does it have to stay within the realm of tourist activity?

[Raintree21]

The tax funds marketing and tourism promotion for the county and will in part be used to build a new welcome center at Speedway Blvd.

[Neo]

Here are is the current iteration of the drag strip site plan:

[Justadude]

Those better be some mighty strong sound barriers, or that neighborhood will be completely empty in a couple of years.

[Neo]

I believe it has been reported before that a Hyatt hotel will be constructed in front of the Embassy Suites/Convention Center but the permit just came through today. It is mind boggling at just how many hotels are going to be in this immediate area in a couple of years.

[Skyline49er]

I believe it has been reported before that a Hyatt hotel will be constructed in front of the Embassy Suites/Convention Center but the permit just came through today. It is mind boggling at just how many hotels are going to be in this immediate area in a couple of years.

So does this make hotel number 4? With the other ones being Residence Inn, Hilton Garden, and Great Wolf Lodge.

[AuLukey]

So does this make hotel number 4? With the other ones being Residence Inn, Hilton Garden, and Great Wolf Lodge.

that's on top of the embassy expansion... oh yea, and the other 8(ish) hotel/motels that are already within a quarter mile of there too. at what point will there be too many to rationalize building anymore?

Edited January 16, 2008 by aussie luke

[Neo]

So does this make hotel number 4? With the other ones being Residence Inn, Hilton Garden, and Great Wolf Lodge.

Yes, I believe that makes #4 but also keep in mind that the Embassy Suites expansion looms but I'm not sure you can call that a #5 since it will be a part of the existing hotel there, just an additional building. It is interesting that there are so many hotels in this immediate area considering the percentage of the year that the speedway facilities aren't in use for mass numbers of people.

[AuLukey]

Yes, I believe that makes #4 but also keep in mind that the Embassy Suites expansion looms but I'm not sure you can call that a #5 since it will be a part of the existing hotel there, just an additional building. It is interesting that there are so many hotels in this immediate area considering the percentage of the year that the speedway facilities aren't in use for mass numbers of people.

i just meant that it was adding more rooms to the area, not necessarily being another hotel itself.

[Raintree21]

There are some convention facilities in Concord right? So that could justify some of the rooms. Perhaps they are just building so many to service Charlotte. Not everyone can afford to stay inside of the 277 ring when they visit here. Hotels down in Ballantyne have center city visitors all the time. It's just a 15 minute drive to downtown if traffic isn't that bad from Concord.

[Neo]

There are some convention facilities in Concord right? So that could justify some of the rooms.

Yes, there is the Concord Convention Center attached to the Embassy Suites building and I believe I read that it too will get a small expansion alongside the planned Embassy Suites expansion. Honestly though, I haven't heard of one event there since it opened. I'm sure there are events being hosted there, but it certainly doesn't make the news or word of mouth. More notably is the newly built Cabarrus Arena at the Cabarrus County Fairgrounds on Hwy 49 where quite a few events are hosted on a consistent basis that includes a gardening/spring show, Christmas show, fair, etc. IMO these facilities are competing against one another but then again that wouldn't make sense if they were.

[AuLukey]

Yes, there is the Concord Convention Center attached to the Embassy Suites building and I believe I read that it too will get a small expansion alongside the planned Embassy Suites expansion. Honestly though, I haven't heard of one event there since it opened. I'm sure there are events being hosted there, but it certainly doesn't make the news or word of mouth. More notably is the newly built Cabarrus Arena at the Cabarrus County Fairgrounds on Hwy 49 where quite a few events are hosted on a consistent basis that includes a gardening/spring show, Christmas show, fair, etc. IMO these facilities are competing against one another but then again that wouldn't make sense if they were.

I went to a conference in the Convention Center there a few months back. The interior is amazing. I was really shocked when I walked in. I really wasn't expecting something that nice in Concord. There were a lot of people going to several different conferences and/or meetings; McDonald's, Circuit City, and some real estate company come to mind. The place was relatively crowded for it being 11am on a weekday (I think.) I think the fairgrounds draws a different genre of events overall. My high school graduation was there actually.

[Neo]

WCNC has a video up of the press release for the design of the new drag strip at LMS. You can view the video here: http://www.wcnc.com/video/news-index.html?...11326&shu=1

It is quite a nice looking facility when compared to other strips. Hopefully some better resolution images will pop up in the coming days so we can get a closer look at the design.

[Raintree21]

Some pics from the LMS website:

30,000 seats w/ room for expansion to 60,000

24 luxury suites above grandstand

34,000-square-foot starting-line tower w/ 16 luxury suites and an additional 4,000 square-feet of roof access for guests, control area for race officials, a broadcast booth for ESPN's announcers and a press box for media members.

Edited January 25, 2008 by Raintree21

[AuLukey]

Well, I honestly like the overall design of this facility. The design itself actually reminds me a lot of the swoop around the NHOF with the giant "80-foot tall stainless steel perforated screen" on top of the entrance building. My one complaint about the layout is that they decided to build a parking lot in front of it rather that utilizing the acres of parking that already exists on this land. I'd rather see another large pedestrian plaza like that in front of the Speedway.

My only question is what is next for this area as Bruton and many of the people attending the meeting hinted at this becoming the Meca of auto-racing in the US. I know that they are having to revamp the entire speedway to keep it updated, but it just seems like there is more in the works for them to say that. I'd say they need to work on attracting IROC, American Le Mans, and IRL events back again in order to pull that "title" off. Having a dragstrip puts it at an even level with Indianapolis, IMO.

Seems that Cabarrus County has also increased property values in the immediate area. I read in the O that some taxpayers think it is only to help pay for the $80mil in incentives. I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure it helps.

[Neo]

Seems that Cabarrus County has also increased property values in the immediate area. I read in the O that some taxpayers think it is only to help pay for the $80mil in incentives. I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure it helps.

Yes, Cabarrus County just raised property values but it was a scheduled revaluation anyway that would have happened regardless of Bruton/Concord starting this mess. I'm not sure if the increase was attributed partially to the deal though as they did go up quite a bit. I believe the average was 15-20%. My property went up 21% for example.

[Neo]

Here are some larger renderings and the site map:

[AuLukey]

Haha, wow. I didn't realize those blobs at the end of the drag strip were just ponds until these drawings. I thought they were noise-reduction structures. Those homes really are going to be point-blank to that drag strip. Hopefully the larger grandstands on that side will project the majority of the noise in the opposite direction of that neighborhood there. They briefly said something about the city of Concord helping to develop a noise reduction project during that press conference, but didn't give any details. I wonder just what exactly they are planning. My guess would just be a large wall like those on interstates between it and the neighborhood.

I think it's funny how much Bruton poked fun at those neighbors pointing out that they knew there was a Speedway there before they bought their houses. Sad, but funny. I want to stand in the back yards of one of the seven residential properties facing that creek on the property line the day of the first race to see just how bad it gets.

Edited January 25, 2008 by aussie luke

[Raintree21]

There's already quite a bit of trees separating the houses but I could see some walls or large berms being put in along with another set of trees to try to minimize the noise. I wonder why they didn't have it facing the other direction so the grandstands and tower blocked out the sound and forced the noise in the opposite direction from the houses?

One possible option to fulfill the Mecca of Racing comment could potentially be updating the road course to attract ARCA or some other series.