Editor: I read with interest the front page article of the April 11 Times, which spoke to the resurrection of the Campbell Valley Park heritage raceway, a facility that has been closed as a raceway since 1984. The notion of a stock car “money maker” is so ill-conceived it makes one’s head spin.
For now, let’s put aside the fact that the north side hill is so unstable, that recently over 400 cubic metres of mud sloughed across the asphalt track. This has resulted in the oval being closed to the public.
Never mind that the paved track is in such poor condition that it could never safely accommodate a stock car function without significant repair. Never mind the concrete barriers that are deteriorated beyond repair and have been rendered useless as a safety feature.
The repair costs to the stock car “money maker” are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Instead, let’s focus on a 1,400-acre regional park which has become a state-of-the-art equestrian facility and has surpassed expectations by becoming the envy of equestrian enthusiasts around the country.
It is a facility with kilometres of equestrian trails, which hosts “money making” equestrian events throughout the year. It also offers non-equestrian folk a local and unique wilderness experience.
Now picture, in this unique environment, the noise and impacts from stock cars, spectators, vendors, traffic, parking, trucks, trailers and numerous other disruptions. Mission, Agassiz, Bremerton, Castle Rock and Yakima are within a day’s drive and offer stock car and other racing enthusiasts excellent venues for their sport.
If money is an issue, then Metro Vancouver could leverage through demand by offering enhanced equestrian facilities and increase revenues through those enhancements. In summary, let’s not put the cart before the horse.
Doug Hyde,
Langley
