SEATTLE REFURBISHMENT YEARS AWAY
Mon, 2009-07-20 11:30
Jason Fiorito, President of Pacific Raceways, is surprisingly candid, as track operators go.
He admits what once was a premier facility, originally constructed by Dan Fiorito, Jr. and his brother Joe, does not currently come close to being called premier. However, he firmly believes that in time, and that doesn't mean tomorrow or even next year, Pacific Raceways has the potential to become not just a premier drag racing facility, but a premier motorsports facility with two drag strips, a road race course, a karting track and a 5/16th's mile short track.
As is the case with most track operators, the money spent on a facility isn't always apparent. Fiorito says his family has spent three million dollars in improvements, of which only $750,000 can be quickly noted by those in attendance – the new permanent grandstands. The remainder of the money was spent on the current track surface to meet NHRA standards.
He admits what once was a premier facility, originally constructed by Dan Fiorito, Jr. and his brother Joe, does not currently come close to being called premier. However, he firmly believes that in time, and that doesn't mean tomorrow or even next year, Pacific Raceways has the potential to become not just a premier drag racing facility, but a premier motorsports facility with two drag strips, a road race course, a karting track and a 5/16th's mile short track.
As is the case with most track operators, the money spent on a facility isn't always apparent. Fiorito says his family has spent three million dollars in improvements, of which only $750,000 can be quickly noted by those in attendance – the new permanent grandstands. The remainder of the money was spent on the current track surface to meet NHRA standards.
“We realize,” started Fiorito when asked about base necessities, “we haven’t been able to provide for a number of different reasons, the least of which the facility was neglected for over 25 years, a proper fan experience.”
The condition of the amenities throughout the facility have been noticed by the fans, the media and the NHRA. Fiorito is thankful the NHRA understands the process necessary to get anything done in the state of Washington.
“We believe the NHRA has worked very well and patiently with us. NHRA is the world premiere drag racing sanctioning body and work with world class racers and the PRO organization. This facility has not kept up with the safety and fan amenity programs that we’ve seen across the country. They see where we are headed and see the challenges that faced us from a permitting and economic standpoint. I think they have been extremely patient in working with us with our commitment that this is our end goal in providing a world class facility for not only the fans, but the sanctioning body and drivers to provide them with the ability to put on a great show safely.”
Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Competition, confirmed the sanctioning body has shown patience working with the Fiorito family as they endeavor to improve the facility. Seattle is a key part in the NHRA marketing program.
“We’ve always considered the northwest a tremendous market,” Light said. “You've got Seattle, Vancouver, western Canada, Edmonton, and Calgary, so there’s a huge market here. It’s also a market that we deliver to our sponsors, not all forms of motor racing do. We think that’s important. We understand the challenges anywhere of the building costs involved and permitting. Washington State is a beautiful state and there’s a reason for that. Some states are more difficult to get approvals, so we understand it’s a challenge. We would like to see a fresh state-of-the-art facility up here and we believe this market has far more potential than what we are seeing. It truly rounds out our schedule when we hit all four corners [of the United States] and everywhere in-between.”
At this time, Fiorito has been able to get past a major hurdle in a process that has consumed eight years and most likely will consume another two years before anything can be built or upgraded.
“We’ve received a mitigated determination on significance from King County on the relocation of the drag strip currently,” explained Fiorito. “We hope to start excavating for that project in the next month or so. The rest of the improvements follow about a five to seven year time frame. We have about two to three years of the excavating on the relocating of the drag strip project, a year of construction costs and we hope by 2013 we will be open for business on the relocated drag strip. Within that time we will begin excavating for the oval track and the construction of the buildings. We hope for a total build out time frame of about 2017.”
When Fiorito talks about a relocation of the drag strip, he is actually referencing the construction of a new 4000' strip which could eventually replace the current strip in use. At this time, the new strip would only host local and divisional events. The reason is simple – the three million worth of improvements to the current strip can't be moved to a new strip very easily.
According to Fiorito the process has been “arduous”.
“The Pacific Northwest, rightly so, is very concerned about impacts to the environment,” continued Fiorito. “It’s been an exhaustive
SEPA [State Environment Protection Act] to get us perched on the ability to get approval for this project. We have been working with local politicians and staff for close to a decade now and have some pretty good momentum with politicians. The politicians understand the positive economic and social benefits that come along with a world class facility … the economic impact regionally is enormous and the social benefits of having an outlet for not only adults, but kids, to realize their need for speed in a controlled safe environment has been well realized. We feel like we have, over the last eight years, built up quite a bit of political momentum with this project although it’s been through exhaustive environmental review and will continue to do so. We’re optimistic that two years from now we have approval for the entire master plan.”
One of the projects of the future included a new media center, to replace the current two trailers which lack indoor plumbing. Like the fans, the media must also use porta-lets.
Luckily, for the fans, the construction of new amenities for their comfort will accompany the construction of a new media center.
“We have a deal with the county and one of the first buildings that we would like to install … and we won’t apply for another building permit until the master plan is approved … there’s a two year permitting cycle associated with our commitment to the county not to piecemeal the project together any more. We hope three years from now after approval of the master plan, and enough time to apply for and receive the building permit, that we’ll have a full blown media center on site with all the necessary hook ups to make broadcasting better.”
The reason for the delay is simple. In order to gain the respect of the local governing bodies, the Fioritos made a promise, “as an operator made a commitment to the County that we will show them the final vision and get an approval environmentally before asking for any more incremental building permits. It made sense in terms of environmental review and from an efficiency standpoint.”
He admits what once was a premier facility, originally constructed by Dan Fiorito, Jr. and his brother Joe, does not currently come close to being called premier. However, he firmly believes that in time, and that doesn't mean tomorrow or even next year, Pacific Raceways has the potential to become not just a premier drag racing facility, but a premier motorsports facility with two drag strips, a road race course, a karting track and a 5/16th's mile short track.
As is the case with most track operators, the money spent on a facility isn't always apparent. Fiorito says his family has spent three million dollars in improvements, of which only $750,000 can be quickly noted by those in attendance – the new permanent grandstands. The remainder of the money was spent on the current track surface to meet NHRA standards.
Jason Fiorito, President of Pacific Raceways, is surprisingly candid, as track operators go.
The master plan for the New Pacific Raceways hangs in the balance as the Fiorito family jumps through the hoops of local and state politics.
He admits what once was a premier facility, originally constructed by Dan Fiorito, Jr. and his brother Joe, does not currently come close to being called premier. However, he firmly believes that in time, and that doesn't mean tomorrow or even next year, Pacific Raceways has the potential to become not just a premier drag racing facility, but a premier motorsports facility with two drag strips, a road race course, a karting track and a 5/16th's mile short track.
As is the case with most track operators, the money spent on a facility isn't always apparent. Fiorito says his family has spent three million dollars in improvements, of which only $750,000 can be quickly noted by those in attendance – the new permanent grandstands. The remainder of the money was spent on the current track surface to meet NHRA standards.
“We realize,” started Fiorito when asked about base necessities, “we haven’t been able to provide for a number of different reasons, the least of which the facility was neglected for over 25 years, a proper fan experience.”
The condition of the amenities throughout the facility have been noticed by the fans, the media and the NHRA. Fiorito is thankful the NHRA understands the process necessary to get anything done in the state of Washington.
We believe the NHRA has worked very well and patiently with us. NHRA is
the world premiere drag racing sanctioning body and work with world
class racers and the PRO organization. This facility has not kept up
with the safety and fan amenity programs that we’ve seen across the
country. They see where we are headed and see the challenges that faced
us from a permitting and economic standpoint. I think they have been
extremely patient in working with us with our commitment that this is
our end goal in providing a world class facility for not only the fans,
but the sanctioning body and drivers to provide them with the ability
to put on a great show safely. - Jason Fiorito, Pacific Raceways President
Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Competition, confirmed the sanctioning body has shown patience working with the Fiorito family as they endeavor to improve the facility. Seattle is a key part in the NHRA marketing program.
“We’ve always considered the northwest a tremendous market,” Light said. “You've got Seattle, Vancouver, western Canada, Edmonton, and Calgary, so there’s a huge market here. It’s also a market that we deliver to our sponsors, not all forms of motor racing do. We think that’s important. We understand the challenges anywhere of the building costs involved and permitting. Washington State is a beautiful state and there’s a reason for that. Some states are more difficult to get approvals, so we understand it’s a challenge. We would like to see a fresh state-of-the-art facility up here and we believe this market has far more potential than what we are seeing. It truly rounds out our schedule when we hit all four corners [of the United States] and everywhere in-between.”
According to Pacific Raceways President Jason Fiorito's his hands are tied from making substantial improvements due to politics.
“We’ve received a mitigated determination on significance from King County on the relocation of the drag strip currently,” explained Fiorito. “We hope to start excavating for that project in the next month or so. The rest of the improvements follow about a five to seven year time frame. We have about two to three years of the excavating on the relocating of the drag strip project, a year of construction costs and we hope by 2013 we will be open for business on the relocated drag strip. Within that time we will begin excavating for the oval track and the construction of the buildings. We hope for a total build out time frame of about 2017.”
When Fiorito talks about a relocation of the drag strip, he is actually referencing the construction of a new 4000' strip which could eventually replace the current strip in use. At this time, the new strip would only host local and divisional events. The reason is simple – the three million worth of improvements to the current strip can't be moved to a new strip very easily.
According to Fiorito the process has been “arduous”.
“The Pacific Northwest, rightly so, is very concerned about impacts to the environment,” continued Fiorito. “It’s been an exhaustive
"We understand the challenges anywhere of the building costs involved
and permitting. Washington State is a beautiful state and there’s a
reason for that. Some states are more difficult to get approvals, so we
understand it’s a challenge. We would like to see a fresh
state-of-the-art facility up here and we believe this market has far
more potential than what we are seeing. It truly rounds out our
schedule when we hit all four corners [of the United States] and
everywhere in-between.” - NHRA VP Graham Light
One of the projects of the future included a new media center, to replace the current two trailers which lack indoor plumbing. Like the fans, the media must also use porta-lets.
Luckily, for the fans, the construction of new amenities for their comfort will accompany the construction of a new media center.
“We have a deal with the county and one of the first buildings that we would like to install … and we won’t apply for another building permit until the master plan is approved … there’s a two year permitting cycle associated with our commitment to the county not to piecemeal the project together any more. We hope three years from now after approval of the master plan, and enough time to apply for and receive the building permit, that we’ll have a full blown media center on site with all the necessary hook ups to make broadcasting better.”
The reason for the delay is simple. In order to gain the respect of the local governing bodies, the Fioritos made a promise, “as an operator made a commitment to the County that we will show them the final vision and get an approval environmentally before asking for any more incremental building permits. It made sense in terms of environmental review and from an efficiency standpoint.”
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