I'm not sure if you guys have seen this yet or not but I thought I would share!
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/...61168881682000
Basically, here is the plan in a nutshell: Right now PIR is a city park that gets no tax dollars. Last year it made around $100k but it has a lot of differed maintenance. This proposal leases PIR to Pacific Northwest Race Management for 60 years, starting at $225k for the first year and going up from there. (The proposed amount the City of Portland would be making in 5 years would be over $1 million.) From the get-go, improvements will start being made to PIR to make it a world-class, multi-use race facility. These improvements would start with noise management for PIR's neighbors and desperately needed maintenance. Next would come Pit Garages. To give you an idea on the importance of that, NASCAR won't even consider PIR because it doesn't have pit garages. That is their number one complant. Next would come condo garages (like airplane hangers at an airport) and suites. Then a High Performance Retail Center, a alternate energy center and a law enforcement center (including classrooms and a firing range). Basically they will be putting PIR back on the "map" in racing, which will bring professional racing back to Portland, which will provide jobs that our tax dollars aren't paying for and will stimulate the economy from a consumer standpoint. All the while, it will be paying the City of Portland to lease the track. Another good side is the amateurs racing and track days will not be effected! The high school drags (for instance) will still be able to use PIR. Not a bad deal, eh?
And now we get to the exciting part: In the proposal, they are planning an off-road course. The plan is to bring professional rock racing to Portland! And that means that local clubs will more than likely be able to hold amateur rock crawling events and competitions! I am super excited about everything this proposal has to offer and I figured you guys would like to know what's going on.
