Charlotte Gets Green Light for NASCAR Hall of Fame

By Bea Quirk

In early March NASCAR officially announced it would locate its Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., but it will be spring 2007 before construction begins, and spring 2010 before the hall opens to fans.

The City of Charlotte will be responsible for the project, which includes not only the hall of fame, but also an expanded ballroom of 50,000 sq. ft. for the Charlotte Convention Center, which will be connected to the hall, and a parking deck. The city's bid to NASCAR included a construction budget of $107.5 million for the hall, $43 million for the convention center expansion and $4 million for the parking deck. The city has also given NASCAR six months to decide whether the racing organization will build a 300,000-sq.-ft. office tower on the site.

City Engineer Jim Schumacher said he hopes to have a construction manager hired by June. "I want to get them involved as early as possible as we develop a detailed program," he said.

The architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners of New York, N.Y., is now designing the building, which will include a traditional exhibit area, an area devoted to high-tech interactive displays and a restaurant. As part of the city's bid, the firm created renderings of the hall that featured a banked curve encircling the building, creating the shape of a speedway track. Its final size has not yet been determined.

Schumacher said some initial site work on the city-owned land will be done this year, including moving city staff now located in a building on the site and then demolishing it. The site currently also holds a public parking lot with 318 spaces.

Charlotte won the hall over proposals from Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Fla., Richmond, Va., and Kansas City, Kan. The city's theme was: "Racing was built here. Racing belongs here."

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