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Racetrack near airport may be covered for all-season use
Thursday, April 15, 1999 By Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The auto racing track proposed near Pittsburgh International Airport will be at least three-quarters of a mile in length and may be covered to permit year-round competitions as well as other events.
As the developer, Brant Motorsports Inc. of Morgantown, W.Va., and Allegheny County officials prepare to announce the proposal Tuesday, more details about the track are emerging.
The oval track will be three quarters of a mile to a mile long, sizable enough to permit events such as National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing -- or NASCAR -- races, although the project is not affiliated with that sanctioning body or any other.
It also may be covered in some fashion to permit all-season racing, although officials were mum about those details yesterday.
Brant has described the track as a "motor sports facility," raising the possibility that it could be used for motorcycle racing, monster truck pulls and auto shows as well.
Because of the proximity to the airport, the facility also is expected to double as something of an exposition center for aircraft exhibits, industrial trade shows and concerts.
There is a possibility that taxiways or ramps may be built to provide access from the airport to the facility.
Other details are expected to be released at a press conference Tuesday at the airport.
If all goes according to plan, the track would be developed on county-owned land.
Solicitor Kerry Fraas has said that the development, which he has described as "quite dramatic," would be almost entirely privately funded.
No details regarding the cost of the facility were available; however, two new tracks being built in Joliet, Ill., near Chicago and in Kansas City, Kan., by International Speedway Corp. have price tags of $100 million and $200 million, respectively, according to spokesman David Talley.
Brant Motorsports, a marketing company involved in auto racing, confirmed last month that it was considering the possibility of building a motor sports facility in Allegheny County.
The company has said in a prepared release it hoped to attract "world-class auto racing events" to the complex.
Representatives have been unavailable to comment on their plans.
County Economic Development Director Mulugetta Birru has said that Brant was one of two groups that had expressed interest in building a track near the airport.
The other group has not been identified.
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