Home >  Sports >  Other Sports

Monday, December 11, 2000

By Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Speed rules in auto racing. But Bob Brant is finding it is patience that reigns in his efforts to build the world's first indoor auto racing complex on Pittsburgh International Airport land in Findlay.

Brant, vice president of Brant Motorsports, has seen July and November dates for the groundbreaking for the proposed $400 million Brant Pittsburgh Auto Racing Complex come and go and now is shooting for the "middle of 2001."

"We're kind of in a bit of a holding pattern, if you will," Brant said last week from his office in Morgantown, W.Va.

Much of the waiting is the result of the environmental assessment process required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The federal bureaucracy, it seems, does not live in the fast lane.

A public hearing on the airport's environmental assessment plan, which includes the auto racing complex, will be held next Monday at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott. Brant is hoping to get federal approval by February. He initially had been hoping to get it by October.

"We've gotten a little bit behind with the entire process. I think we were overly optimistic with the initial plans and the environmental assessment. It's not taking any longer than it normally does, but we hoped to do it sooner," he said.

Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George said officials hope to file the document, which involves more than 40 projects, with the FAA by Jan. 1 and he expects to have an answer by March 1. The authority hopes to get a finding of "no significant impact" for the race track and other projects.

George said one reason it has taken so long is that the authority has had to coordinate the process with 14 different agencies. At one time it had hoped to wrap up the environmental assessment by October, only to be delayed.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters would not commit to a date for an answer by the agency once the document has been submitted, saying only that the FAA would review the plan and respond "as quickly as we can."

Part of the FAA's interest was in road improvements planned as part of the complex, which would be built off Business Route 60 between the Moon-Clinton Road interchange and the airport exit.

An extra lane would be added to Route 60 near the airport, and the Moon-Clinton and Flaugherty Run interchanges would be upgraded. A section of Moon-Clinton Road also must be widened and several curves straightened.

Brant said the environmental assessment was an "important piece" in advancing the plans for the racing complex, which would sit on 217 acres. With FAA clearance, he said, his firm would be able to finalize financing and construction design for the massive project.

Brant Motorsports is hoping to build the facility with almost all private money, but to date, few financial details have emerged. Brant said the firm has received some financial commitments but added that some funding is contingent on the environmental assessment.

"We're comfortable with where we're at [on financing]," he said.

Brant said the firm is still trying to find a backer who would buy the naming rights to the complex.

"We continue to be out there in the market," he said. "To be honest with you, we haven't had any luck with securing the naming rights."

Part of the reason, he believes, is that the naming rights market has become very competitive, with so many new stadiums and sports arenas going up. But he also thinks the interest will increase once the firm breaks ground and the complex starts to rise from the dirt.

The development also suffered a setback in June, when project founder R. Ted Brant, 53, of Morgantown, died of an apparent heart attack at Morgantown's Clarion Hotel Morgan, which he owned.

"Obviously that impacted us both personally and with the business," Bob Brant said.

Even as the environmental assessment drags along, the firm has secured a needed zoning change from Findlay.

It is now working with township officials to make sure the facility meets building standards. George said a preliminary airspace analysis, required by the FAA, has been completed. The firm also will have to do a construction airspace analysis before building starts.

The studies are designed to ensure that neither the construction nor the building will interfere with flights into and out of the airport.

The complex will feature a 1-mile oval track, with 850-foot straightaways. It will seat 60,000 people. A sophisticated air flow system will push exhaust out the top of the facility. Soundproofing also will be used to deaden noise.

In addition to racing, Brant is planning to hold at least 200 other events at the complex each year, including boat shows, wrestling matches, conventions, indoor aircraft exhibitions, circuses and truck and tractor pulls.

Brant said the proposed complex continues to receive "very positive feedback" from fans. So far, more than 10,000 people have expressed an interest in racing tickets.

He said he is still working to make his brother's dream a reality.

"We continue to move forward. We've been a little low-key, but behind the scenes we're continuing to move forward on the project," he said.