Cooper Park SPARC Development

[freighter]

It appears that the Cooper Park project is DEAD. The SPARC website has not had a SINGLE news item in 2013. The park is supposed to open in 2014–and 2014 starts in just 2 weeks!

So what did they do in 2013? The sold off the old seats, had a car show in the parking lot and a few other minor events. No groundbreaking, no news, no hiring–NOTHING.

The announcement of the death (or serious delay) of this project surely must be forthcoming. It’s interesting that NO ONE–and I MEAN no one will go on the record about the status of this project: not ARSHOT, not the FC commissioners, not the city, not the Dispatch, not 610WTVN. The silence is deafening and TELLING. This thing is DEAD–stick a fork in it!

[Graybeak]

welcome to the site freighter.
Thanks for taking an interest in our community. We can’t wait to hear your opinions on other topics regarding our fair city.

[kit444]

How did we know projects were dead before the Internet gave us a gauge of website postings?

[GCrites80s]

“I love it when people come into a message board and immediately begin to mix it up. I mean, Jesus, at least say hello! Do you walk into a room full of strangers, pick a random woman, and tell her she’s fat?” – buildingcincinnati

[jbcmh81]

I would be interested to know what the actual status of this project is, as there really hasn’t been any recent news. No news is good news?

[freighter]

Hey, it’s fine. The purpose of my post was to mix it up. If I’m wrong, then fine. If someone has evidence that the track is alive (and not just a bunch of press PR) then present it. The facts are what they are; they went an entire year without any significant news. Surely that is telling. Can’t anyone here get an official SOMEWHERE to comment in a public way? I’d love to see it. So far it just hasn’t happened. By the way, I’m not taking a side one way or the other on the wisdom of a track-so let’s not go down that line of venting. I’m agnostic on it; I just think the evidence points to the fact that this thing is as dead as a doorknob. If not, show me!

[freighter]

In this case, no news CERTAINLY is not good news. Think of it this way–EVERYONE went on and on about how great this thing was going to be. Read what the Commissioners had to say a few years back. Now if this thing was humming along and about to get built, and people were about to be hired, etc., you know FULL well that everyone would be touting it and taking credit for it. Let’s not be naïve here!!

[spfld_expat]

freighter said:
It’s interesting that NO ONE–and I MEAN no one will go on the record about the status of this project: not ARSHOT, not the FC commissioners, not the city, not the Dispatch, not 610WTVN. The silence is deafening and TELLING.

Well, have you asked them? There are phone numbers on the web for each of those groups. Give em a call.

[MichaelC]

Dear Phantomos from the Columbus Monthly message boards,

Your question is a good one. An update would be nice.

A week ago, JeepGirl posted this in the SPARC thread:

SPARC, Michael Waltrip, MWR and the Aaron’s Big Rig of Help are holding a Food Drive in support of the FEED The Children’s mission where they will also be donating $100,000 of food and personal health items to two local charities serving the near west side of Columbus, LifeCare Alliance and Gladden House. These goods will later be distributed to at least 400 families in need. Fans are invited to come out the day of the event with non-perishable food item to donate and will have the opportunity to meet Michael Waltrip. There will also be a NASCAR race car available for fans to take photos with!
The event will be held on December 12th from 11:30am to 3pm at Cooper Stadium (1155 West Mound Street, Columbus, OH 43223).

[JeepGirl]

And here’s a graphic to go along with that text.

On recent drive by I did notice that there seemed to be some surveying and utility marking going on. I assume that’s a first step towards the eventual demolition and construction.

Looking forward to seeing the venue take shape. Would love for it to be sooner than later, but if waiting means it’s a better project then so be it. At least they’re keeping the property exterior looking half way decent and cleaned up while we wait.

[MRipley]

Can’t wait for this to happen and would be interested to know more about the when’s and what’s as well, but seeing as it’s a privately owned project and if the developer is reasonably maintaining the site, I don’t see the real problem if they’re taking their time to get things underway.

[Walker Evans]

FYI: Updated the thread title.

Obviously this project is not dead if they’re hosting an event on Thursday. Probably a good time for anyone interested to stop by and get an update.

Also, there’s an existing discussion thread on this topic, here:

The Sports Pavilion & Automotive Research Complex (SPARC) – News & Updates

[MRipley]

For those interested I just heard a promo on WCOL 92.3 that Michael Waltrip will be in studio for their morning show at 7:30am. Sounds like Cooper Stadium/SPARC will be one of the topics they discuss.

There you go freighter, listen in. Maybe they’ll take call in questions and you can ask Waltrip first hand.

[freighter]

Well the WCOL interview would be interesting. However, I would remind people that having a food drive, or a car show (as they did this summer) IS NOT the same as building a race track! Much of that can simply be a distraction or presenting the APPEARANCE of moving forward. Don’t assume that a food drive means this thing is on–it does no such thing.

[groundrules]

I’m having wonderland thread flashbacks.

[Author]

Posts