[racenut69]

Belleville.jpg...Photo of Little Belleville now...SAD!

[ronmil]

Originally Posted by racenut69 Attachment 26404...Photo of Little Belleville now...SAD!

Jim Goerge told me that won't lease to anybody

[racenut69]

Fairboard just wants it to go away....SAD!

[Chief Wahoo]

Is there a reason they can’t put it up for sale? Went there one time pre Covid on Jims recommendation for POWRI show. Was awesome show, it’s a shame what it looks like now. Don’t know if anyone would buy it but it’s better then letting it turn into a woods.

[racenut69]

Rumors that a serious amount of back taxes are owed,but I doubt we will ever know?

[Chief Wahoo]

Originally Posted by racenut69 Rumors that a serious amount of back taxes are owed,but I doubt we will ever know?

Wouldn’t that be public record by the County Treasure’s office? Not sure how Illinois works.

[Pitdad]

Belle-Clair Speedway is on the grounds of the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL. It's not for sale. I don't imagine it's in danger of turning into "woods" as it is in the middle of town and adjacent to commercial and industrial areas. The more likely danger is the Fair Board deciding that they are tire of dealing with neighbors (who don't really live near) complaining about the noise, dust, and traffic, so they take this opportunity to let it fall into such disrepair that "the only logical course of action" is to bulldoze it and use if for other fairgrounds activities...

Happened in Oklahoma City to the finest speed plant in all the plains. Any track that is inside city limits is in danger. Heck, if it's NEAR a city, it's in danger because somebody is going to decide they want to buy up the cheap land around it (cheap because of the noise and dust). Then, they get the nearby city to annex it and then shut it down because it's "ruining the property values of it's neighbors". Belle-Clair's only neighbors I can see are a sewage treatment plant, but that won't stop them from shuttering it permanently. You have to make sure you put racetrack friendly people on these fair boards and authorities. Otherwise they'll all be gone and you'll have to drive 40 miles to the middle of nowhere to hold a race.

It's a shame. We saw a POWRi micro show there years ago when they still ran the Meents there. It really looked like a fun place.

[markd]

As much as I would like to see BC open again since it is only a few minutes from my house, I can't see another race happening there again With the fairgrounds owners having no interest in the track, they're not going to make repairs to the facility. The loose boards have only gotten worse, the bathrooms needed repair before the layoff, the implements have probably not been started in over two years, but maybe the lights would still work.... The track had friends that got along with city hall, but there is a new mayor now. How receptive is she to auto racing? And the people who always complained about the noise would have ammo now, "the track has not run in two years, so why is it now". If someone could get the repairs done, I think they would have a big, hard fight with the city and the neighbors to reopen.

I have no insider information here. This is totally personal opinion. But I think I saw the last race at Little Belleville in Oct 2019. I'm glad my son and I bolted out of our birthday party to see the features that night.

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by Chief Wahoo Is there a reason they can’t put it up for sale? Went there one time pre Covid on Jims recommendation for POWRI show. Was awesome show, it’s a shame what it looks like now. Don’t know if anyone would buy it but it’s better then letting it turn into a woods.

Same here... only my recommendation was from "Mr. Funk"
It was great, POWRi midgets & micros
Hope it reopens...

[mscs20]

PowrI-WAR Sprint car races were bad ass there too.