Help save PIR...

[jeffgrant]

I've posted this over in the Racing forum, but hopefully some people around here will help out as well, and I hope it's not too off-topic for this forum.

Hello everyone-

Please read this link if you are interested in helping to keep Portland International Raceway alive and kicking:

http://www.pca-cwr.org/index.php?module=phpwsbb&PHPWSBB_MAN_OP=view&PHPWS_MAN_ITEMS=601


Thanks...


...jeff

[Scott Clarke]

Thanks for posting this. I was unaware of the danger to the track. It would be a great loss to the region.
-Scott

[Craig 930 RS]

Jeff -

Post this on the PNW Pelican board!

[jeffgrant]

Craig-

I did.


...jeff

[pwd72s]

Far as I'm concerned, Portland, aka/Moscow on the Willamette, deserves the politicians it elects. They want to develop the area? They must forget why the area was made into a race track in the first place...the Vanport flood that took hundreds of lives.
But...Mayor Potter must know best, right? (edit) For those who don't know, PIR is owned by the city of Portland.

[jorian]

Already registered. Thanks!

[HarryD]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Far as I'm concerned, Portland, aka/Moscow on the Willamette, deserves the politicians it elects. They want to develop the area? They must forget why the area was made into a race track in the first place...the Vanport flood that took hundreds of lives.
But...Mayor Potter must know best, right? (edit) For those who don't know, PIR is owned by the city of Portland.

Yeah Paul.

After all, the push to move the track is being driven by a vocal minority lead by a fellow who moved to a home near the track about 4-5 years ago. He is now complaining about the noise. Gee, how long has the track been there?

Besdies, as you note the track is a City Park. For those who do not know, the track is self sustaining and in fact turns money back to the City which can be used for improvements. Add to that, our occurances of kids (and others) getting hurt street racing has dropped to zero once the Park instituted Late Night Drag racing. What is that worth to the community.

For those who cannot stand the noise, do what the fishes do when they do not like the water they are in, move or die.

Given this guy's attitiude, once they succeed with getting that dad burn noisy track shutdown, I am sure they will move next to the airport and then notice that it is a bit noisy too.

[Craig 930 RS]

Local track (Pacific Raceways) also has noise complaints.
Take a look at the numbers......track built in 1959......most houses built around it after that.

What the hell do they expect?

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by HarryD
Yeah Paul.

After all, the push to move the track is being driven by a vocal minority lead by a fellow who moved to a home near the track about 4-5 years ago. He is now complaining about the noise. Gee, how long has the track been there?

Besdies, as you note the track is a City Park. For those who do not know, the track is self sustaining and in fact turns money back to the City which can be used for improvements. Add to that, our occurances of kids (and others) getting hurt street racing has dropped to zero once the Park instituted Late Night Drag racing. What is that worth to the community.

For those who cannot stand the noise, do what the fishes do when they do not like the water they are in, move or die.

Given this guy's attitiude, once they succeed with getting that dad burn noisy track shutdown, I am sure they will move next to the airport and then notice that it is a bit noisy too.

Right on, Harry...I recall a similar fight to "save PIR" some years back. Then it was Paul Allan (sp?) wanting to kick out the local yuk race weekends so he could stage rock concerts. His money didn't buy ALL of the city council, but he came close. It doesn't help that the mayor and council are anti-car. They favor spending $ Billions on mass transit over roads. It all began when Neil Goldschmidt nixed the plans for a Mt. Hood freeway...went with Tri met's light rail plan. Seen any less traffic on the Banfield lately? I'm now in the mood to say let the track die...why fight the inevitable? Pull the plug, make the lefties happy...

[HarryD]

Paul,

Some of us lefties think this is "the good fight" and are pressing. I am hopeful we are heard (above the din? ).

[randywebb]

yeh, make me happy....


it pretty simple (except for the flood risk as Paul points out):
there's a lot of land & it is used for a noisy activity -- that is hard to have inside the city limits

3rd, it's owned by a city so should serve the best interests of the whole city.

Paul - your Fwy comment is way off base - every study done has shown that the rail line has reduced the amount of traffic that WOULD be there by large amounts - don't conflate existing with rail vs. what would be there w/o rail

the plans to put a BIG time race track out in E. Oregon cannot but harm PIR somewhat - it's a 'fur piece' but is bound to pull some fans and races away; there is a small track down here that keeps trying to expand - it also has noise and dust issues for the neighbors.

if you want to oppose removing the track, your best bet is to emphasize the flood issues - raise the spectre of Vanport.

2nd is the liklihood of toxics there -- when I drove it, PIR had a nice oil slick that came up out of the ground on the back stretch -- near that big bump somewhere....

- that means it will be risky &/or spendy to put homes there {-- maybe we can restrict any housing to people who moved into Orygun from outside in the last 30 years.}

if they can't put housing then it could only rationally be developed as an industrial area -- and that would be a worse NIMBY issue than the track

[pwd72s]

Good luck guys, I'm not going to waste a batch of stamps writing them, including a photocopy of my ticket into the 1964 Rose Cups...I did enough of that last time. Tom Potter has all but said he wishes to dump the track. The fact that city council members find the "gay pride parade" more important to attend than the Rose cups should also give you a clue. I'm looking forward to a new track in Eastern Oregon...hopefully privately owned.

[2.7RACER]

The first great trauma in my life was watching my home float down the Columbia river in the spring of 1948. It was mostly post war government housing in Vanport. My parents lost everything but the clothes on theirs and my back.
I'm not aware of any flood control improvements since that time. I haven't lived in Portland since 1959. Unfortunately race tracks tend to be marginal financialy.
We've all seen a local track close up over the years. Riverside International Raceway and Ontario come to mind near where I once lived.
People and the municipalities seem to forget over the years why some of these locations really aren't suitable for development.
Those of us that do remeber are in a small minority. Too bad.

[Craig 930 RS]

Wow. A BTDT thing. Yipes.

More:





Vanport was a hastily constructed city of public housing located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, between the contemporary Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. (Currently the site of Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway.)[1] It was constructed in 1943 to house the workers at the wartime shipyards in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. At its height Vanport was home to 50,000 people, many of them African-American, making it Oregon's second-largest city at the time, and the largest public housing project in the nation.

Vanport was destroyed dramatically at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948 when a 200 foot section of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood, killing fifteen. The city was underwater by nightfall leaving its inhabitants homeless. The Vanport Extension Center refused to close after this disaster and quickly reopened in downtown Portland. Dubbed by a national magazine "The College that Wouldn't Die," it became present-day Portland State University.

The Vanport Flood parallels the more recent Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. In both cases, public officials led the population to believe that the damage would be slight, and in both cases the government response to the disaster was harshly criticized. Many have attributed the poor response, in both cases, to racist attitudes on the part of officials, who allegedly neglected to respond appropriately to the destruction of heavily-black communities.

[pwd72s]

But, of course, the Portland City Government is much better these days...

[coloradoporsche]

The Colorado car enthusiasts know this story all too well. We lost 2nd Creek raceway last year under similar circumstances.

The track was located near an international airport, an old army nerve gas storage site, and a massive landfill. But it was on city land and when the houses got sufficiently close, a few complaining residents and perhaps some zealous developers eventually won the fight.

Good luck.

[Fidalgo911S]

Originally posted by HarryD
Yeah Paul.

.....lead by a fellow who moved to a home near the track about 4-5 years ago. He is now complaining about the noise. Gee, how long has the track been there?.....once they succeed with getting that dad burn noisy track shutdown, I am sure they will move next to the airport and then notice that it is a bit noisy too.

Spot on. I'm amazed at all the people who buy a house near a Naval Air Station, that's been around since WWII, and then call and complain about jet noise.

I had no idea tracks were the same way. Too bad, hopefully common sense will prevail. But since it's Multnomah County (I think), don't hold your breath.

[Jim_Brown]

Most people in NoPo aren't bothered by noise from PIR.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8L458BO3.html

This is another example of Portland politicians blathering on about things they don't comprehend in an attempt to placate whiners.

+1 leftie lining up on the side of PIR and HC burning fun machines.

[RLJ]

Gee Paul............I'm glade to see you so "Happy". Why would you want a track in Eastern Oregon. You would not go there!

The first track and drag strip at Delta Park were from the old streets. I started attending races there when is was 10 years old. 1960. Cascade Sports Car Cub, SCCA and the Rose Festival Assn ( I worked for the RF in 1969 as a coordinator for the race)along with some city money have built the nicest track in the Northwest! RF is the one who saw the $$ signs and wanted a part of it. PCA are newbies out there.

The study done last summer showed that most of the folks *****ing were young adults (idealists) who just moved into the neighborhood in the last few years.

The train whistles on Columbia Blvd at each and every crossing is much worse, the railroad is "not" going to move, period! The small group does not have Sam Adams and Potter(who IMHO is worthless). They think they can snare a few votes helping a small hand full of people rather than earning votes by doing a good job for us all.

Think of the $$ that PIR has dumped into North Portland over the last 45 years.

Yea I'm upset and I will do everything I can to stop the closing of PIR.

Randy Jones,
1971 911 "Iris" and veteran PIR track worker.

[pwd72s]

Good luck Randy. I see it more as a "why delay the inevitable" thing. I'll admit, I haven't enjoyed driving TO PIR in years, the traffic a nightmare. Thus, build a track in the desert. Privatize it. Prineville is losing Les Schwab's home offices...they'd probably welcome a track if it wasn't right next to town. Also, time wise, it wouldn't be that much more for me to get there...two hours to Portland one way, fighting Kamikaze traffic...or 3-4 hours over the pass to Prineville? I'd take Prineville any day during the summer. Less rain to worry about over there as well. Tradition is important, but traditions do die....PIR couldn't attract the ALMS this year. Why? Better facilities in Utah. Let's face it, as tracks go, PIR is getting long in the tooth, and I sure don't see the city council of Portland spending tax money on huge improvements. I see it as getting control of Oregon road racing out of the hands of Portland politicians if we could get a track built with private funding. This would be a GOOD thing.