NASCAR Hall of Fame

[Skyybutter]

Sorry if this is a repost. Found this interesting read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlantas take on Charlotte

[A2]

Just got back from the Rally. I have to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I wore my Yellow shirt and Yellow Tie to be in the spirit. One thing that frustrated me was the lack of people that showed up. I would say that 300 people present would be a stretch. The other thing that really pissed me off was a couple of people dressed up in business suits with hand made signs telling NASCAR to go away ! WTF !!!!

They did this in front of the bus that the officials were getting into. I managed to sheild the guy best I could by standing in front of him and applauding the NASCAR guys in the Bus for coming down. I know we live in a country that allows free speach, but this guy almost got it from me . I mean really, what does this guy have with a few people rallying to support their cause. Most of the people were kids.

A2

[A2]

so anyone here about the Big announcement. I did not hear anything while at the rally. I might have just been late in arriving.

A2

(BTW, I might should have posted this on the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT thread. Oh well Sue me )

[monsoon]

Oh well..... Thanks for the report.

[f0xym0p]

That sucks. I can't believe there weren't more people there. All those people who work downtown--couldn't they have stepped out of their offices for a few minutes? It was during lunchtime after all.

[A2]

That's what I am screaming. I came down from my 18th floor perch and made the journey. To be totally honest though, I do not think any city has had HUGE numbers show up to where the officials go. I think ATL attracted maybe 100-200 from what my buddy tells me. I think the city is more interested in keeping the day clear from a pep rally type mode and more of just a look what we have to offer mode. Even though there was limitied numbers of people the media and big players were definately on their game and giving their all to win these guys over.

A2

[redjeep77]

yeah i thought it was a little disappointing too.....but then as i left i drove around.......there were about the same numbers of people at 2 other locations (at least) so we are looking at about 500+ peps that showed support in yellow.....still more than any other city combined

[A2]

yeah i thought it was a little disappointing too.....but then as i left i drove around.......there were about the same numbers of people at 2 other locations (at least) so we are looking at about 500+ peps that showed support in yellow.....still more than any other city combined

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this is true. Plus we had the city decorated with banners everywhere you turn. I do not know if they are doing this in other cities. Maybe Lady Celeste or teshadoh could elaborate.

A2

[monsoon]

The paper is putting the number closer to just 100 peeps at the rally. Sounds like Atlanta.

A big fat guy in this video says it is going to KC.

[eastsider]

There were probably another 150-200 people at the square.

[Seabreeze]

I think people think it is kinda rediculous that we have to rally for something that we have to pay for. I would understand rallying to be chosen if it was a prize. But it is not. Nascar is the true winner. They receive an iconic building, revenues, and publicity. This is becoming a little ridiculous in my opinion, and I am starting to side with the people holding up the signs telling them to leave. A skyscraper could go there instead.

I was really excited about this at first. But now I am a bit annoyed at the amount we are spending on this. If we don't get this it will be in my opinion one of the stupidest wastes of tax money... I mean seriously, why pay so much to design a building that you aren't sure will even exist?

Just my two cents.

[cinco]

^ i can see your point (which is a good one).

a friend of mine just called and told me he had been uptown. he said there were a couple hundred gathered @ gateway alone. he said center city had other decent sized pockets of supporters...not to mention racecars and whatnot on display.

*sounds better than the 2 previous cities tryouts.

[Lady Celeste]

this is true. Plus we had the city decorated with banners everywhere you turn. I do not know if they are doing this in other cities. Maybe Lady Celeste or teshadoh could elaborate.

A2

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do not want to speak for Atlanta as a whole....

I am offering purely my personal opinion through observations.

I took a drive through downtown yesterday. I did not see one NASCAR banner. There is a big convention here this weekend and the city center had their banners on the light post but I did not see anything related to the NASCAR. I will say however that I did not drive to the Centennial Park area. I was on Peachtree St.

I was amazed that the Atlanta Journal/Constitution ran an article about the NASCAR visit on Tuesday. Not Mondy, not Friday but the day of the visit. I am of the slight opinion that Atlanta as a whole doesn't really care where it goes. If it comes to Atlanta then great....another feather in the tourist hat.....if it goes somewhere else then "win some, lose some...NEXT!!!" This is not the feeling of the officials of the city, the tourist bureau or the state.....but your average Joe is very lukewarm to the issue.

Perhaps it was it adverstised enough. Perhaps the gung ho NASCAR fans here feel that it should go somewhere else. I don't know. To be honest, I would much rather go horseback riding or watch a polo match than NASCAR.....but I would visit the HOF is it was in Atlanta. Maybe some of the citizens are assuming that the sheer size of Atlanta's metro and it's abundance of tourist options both in the CBD and metro-wide will encourage locating the HOF in Atlanta. That's not necessarily true however.

If anyone from NASCAR is reading this (you never know ), this is only my opinion not the opinions expressed of the city of Atlanta, the metro area or the State of Georgia or any of it's other citizens. I am solely speaking for myself.

[atlrvr]

^ Lady Celeste......I was actually having a simultaneous vision as to what you described today in a meeting (you can tell how hard I was paying attention)

Charlotte is still trying as hard as it can to achieve things. We are so excited about anything along this scale that we have pep rallies announcing a Ritz (hey....I went)

Atlanta on the other hand no longer needs to "try". As you said, "win some, lose some"....but they have enough to keep their plate filled. A 2nd W Hotel was announced in the AJC yesterday with not much to do except the specifics of the deal (however they did mention that they would be only the 4th city in the US to have 2 W Hotels)

All that said, there is nothing wrong with enthusiasm, and as a city trying to reach some sense of national importance it's a good thing, but I'm not sure that a smaller city "wanting" or "needing" something makes it the best site.

[Lady Celeste]

Atlanta on the other hand no longer needs to "try".

[jb4563]

NASCAR said they were impressed by the turnout in Charlotte.

[skysdalimit]

Were there many employees standing around at the rallies and stuff?

[teshadoh]

Celeste - you're right, in fact I did happen to walk by Centinneal Park shortly after a rally supposedly occured & didn't notice much activity. No banners, no one in NASCAR clothing, nothing much. I would say the people who are pushing this the most are so far CAP - Downtown Atlanta's civic group & the state of Georgia. City of Atlanta - mayor Shirley Franklin - has joined in recently - though she did say she went to a NASCAR race a few months ago. But this is what CAP really wants the most, of course governor Perdue & most of the state does see the NASCAR HOF beneficial b/c it would be a big attraction for most of rural GA.

But now it is just a matter of seeing what is more important - Charlotte wants it more but Atlanta, despite the lukewarm reaction may provide better demographics.

[skylinedrive]

I was at Trade and Tryon when the bus passed by. I would say there were a couple hundred people there and they were going CRAZY jumping up and down and screaming. That was probably the most action those NASCAR suits had seen in a long time. After talking to people that were at all of the different rallies I would estimate about 1000 people showed up for it. That is pretty good considering that all you saw was 1 police car with flashing lights and a bus full of corporate types that you could barely see through the tinted windows. I get a better show from my church every Sunday...and 1000 people don't show up for that.

I don't think people should be upset with the numbers of people that showed up today. It was a random day in August. I mean really if you had some free time would you want to spend it outside in downtown Charlotte on a hot August day....just to watch a bus drive by? The only reason I was there was because I work downtown...and I'm a NASCAR fan. When it really counts NASCAR knows that we can deliver the people...we deliver them to the 2 races out at the speedway and at speed week downtown.

I think we have a really good chance of landing this thing...even if "fat guy" David Poole thinks its a shoe in for Kansas City.

I am also glad that no public money will be going into this if we don't get the HOF. Thats right...if we don't get the HOF then the taxes will not be going up and it will not be built. All the renderings and hoopla you have seen surrounding the Charlotte HOF so far has been funded from Private sources.

Yes this will be a profit maker for NASCAR..its a private company that is out to make a profit. Guess what...all that pubic money that is being invested in the HOF comes right back to Charlotte... as well as all the future tourist dollars. NASCAR gets to skim off the top...but Charlotte will get the lions share of the money generated by the HOF.

I am excited about the future of Charlotte!

[graydog]

I think people think it is kinda rediculous that we have to rally for something that we have to pay for. I would understand rallying to be chosen if it was a prize. But it is not. Nascar is the true winner. They receive an iconic building, revenues, and publicity. This is becoming a little ridiculous in my opinion, and I am starting to side with the people holding up the signs telling them to leave. A skyscraper could go there instead.

I was really excited about this at first. But now I am a bit annoyed at the amount we are spending on this. If we don't get this it will be in my opinion one of the stupidest wastes of tax money... I mean seriously, why pay so much to design a building that you aren't sure will even exist?

Just my two cents.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree Seabreeze - and I'm a huge NASCAR fan. This project is not going to bring us anything but higher taxes and a building that sits empty most of the time. Seems to me we have enough of both. These public projects for private companies/people loaded with cash rub me the wrong way.

Most of the people on the street were BofA employees because Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Bessant, a major player in this project, has been pushing it within the company.

I worry the growth prospects are clouding our heads.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

Sorry if this is a repost. Found this interesting read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlantas take on Charlotte

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was much nicer than anything I've ever seen written about Atlanta in The Observer. OT, but Pat McCrory is so cute! He needs to stop being mayor and become President. America needs a cute president. He's just way too cute to be limited to Charlotte.

I think people think it is kinda rediculous that we have to rally for something that we have to pay for. I would understand rallying to be chosen if it was a prize. But it is not. Nascar is the true winner. They receive an iconic building, revenues, and publicity. This is becoming a little ridiculous in my opinion, and I am starting to side with the people holding up the signs telling them to leave. A skyscraper could go there instead.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is such an excellent point. I think this is what so many people are feeling in the NASCAR HOF cities. The turnout was small for Charlotte. I think that's very telling. If the HOF actually had as much support as we're being led to believe, there would've been thousands there.

I'm not at all surprised at the low turnout in Atlanta. Unlike Lady_Celeste I don't remember the Four Seasons opening (we're the same age, but she has a much better memory than me), but aside from the Atlanta Child Murders I can't remember anything getting much buzz aside from the Olympics. The Olympics are the only time in my life that I've seen the city really pull together to bring an event to town. Even though I'm not a NASCAR fan, that does make me kind of sad. (OTOH, they did fall all over themselves when Ikea opened. Maybe it just takes more retail...)

I know this is OT, but I am not at all fond of what is happening at Centennial Park. If Atlanta successfully establishes taht area as a tourist triangle, I worry what will happen to the poor neighborhoods adjacent to DT. And if Charlotte gets the bid, the same thing will happen here. Our cities have so much potential, but it's ideas like this, the HOF and increasing family friendly tourism, that is killing them.

[poplife88]

I heard an interesting tidbit on the Keith Larson show on WBT this morning. The idea was being bandied about that if we lost out on the HOF then Bruton Smith would step in and build his version of a southern racing hall of fame uptown. We all know the rivalry that exists b/w Bruton and the Frances and this would be a feather in his cap if his museum here were to outdraw the official Nascar HOF wherever it ended up. Sounds interesting.

[dubone]

that is an interesting idea. it seems reasonable, although the way the tax was structured, he wouldn't have access to the public funds unless it were the nascar hall of fame. i'm sure the city would still give him the money, and perhaps they'd just go back to the genassembly to request the same tax again.

[A2]

I say why not. I have been having this bad feeling in my gut about this HofF deal the whole time we have been rallying to get it. What really will frustrate me is that if we indeed DO NOT GET IT, then we have just spent a freggin boat load of time,money and effort to get NOTHING. While all along we could have been focused on the Arts Package, or perhaps expanding the Convention Center to attract more conventions to town. I swear if this thing goes to KC or ATL, I will write Bruton personally and ask him to build CHarlotte's own Race Car HofF out of shear spite. Hell I will inlude a 20 dollar checkalong with the letter to get him started on his funding campaign, and then after that I will get a group together to protest NASCAR'S slap in the face to Charlotte.

Again this is plan B. Plan A is we get thie silly thing and then I go home smiling.

A2

[eastsider]

I think that could be very possible. Bruton has been wanting to put a museum uptown for years. Plus theres that $50M he's could use that he offered the city for the "monorail".