OCIR, Osceola International RaceWay, appears to be for sale. Get your ducks in a row and be on the phone Monday morning. Too bad this wasn't available 25 or 30 years ago..... http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19956247/56328-Ash-Rd-Osceola-IN/
It is a federal superfund site due to some type of pollution. I suspect getting it sold will be next to impossible. Generally speaking, local governments will not even foreclose of one of these for non-payment of property taxes.
That is a very likely scenario now, but I e-mailed two people that had each approached Art seperately back in the mid 80's about buying the whole shebang. At that time Art drove them both away with off the cuff prices in the six to seven million price range. Needless to say, they both balked at the price. The 2M being asked today is much more in line. I heard back from one of them, but since that person is pretty much retired and had moved to warmer surroundings, a purchase is no longer in the cards for them. The second person is still buying, selling and renting major industrial properties in the area, but I haven't heard word back yet, and probably won't unless they decide to buy. We can only hope. ray:
It is a superfund site because of water pollution that is coming from another site. The drag strip property is not where the pollution originated. Because of the groundwater pollution, the whole area now has city water (and sewage) available, making it even more attractive for developers than it was before those services were available.
I thought that the property was grandfathered as a dragstrip so long as the family owns it, but in the event of ownership transfer, it can no longer be operated as a track. This is condos and strip malls, unless one of us gets married to Ruth, or her son Tim.
After reading the info on the attached link, it sure seems to me that the intended use of the property is to develop it, as there is no mention of the new owner taking over the drag strip or even an option to operate the business "status quo". Seems eminent it'll turn into housing or some service industry project, (strip mall). What a shame!!
Dragstrip posted this on their facebook page last night.................. Osceola Dragway 12 hrs We at the track would like to take this opportunity to address some rumors going around. As you may have heard the track is for sale. As you know Ruth is getting older and can no longer maintain the track on her own, Tim is reaching retirement age as well and is looking towards his future. With that being said the track is for sale as a drag strip to the right buyer. Tim and Ruth both would like it to continue operating as a drag strip and are selling it as such. To address the rumor that the track cannot operate as a drag strip if it is ever sold from the Chizum Family.... This rumor is UNTRUE. The track is required to hold a minimum of one race every 365 days to maintain it's zoning exemption no matter who the owner is. Next rumor...the track will not be open next year....FALSE! The track WILL OPEN next season as scheduled. Please understand the sale of our facility will not happen over night, and we are committed to maintaining our racing program for our Osceola racing family. Please stay tuned to our page for banquet and car show updates! Looks like it is/was a rumor. So, somebody buy this and keep it a dragstrip please.
The same exact thing happens with kilkare raceway outside of Dayton. Every year or two the rumor mill starts that's it's getting sold to a gravel pit/developer/shut down due to noise complaints. It was sold a few years ago after being owned by the same family for a very long time, but the new owner has done nothing but made improvements to the facility. Maybe it's because everyone gets gun shy with so many tracks going the way of the dinosaur, but it's annoying that it comes up so often and every freaks out. Anyway, hope the same happens for Osceola.
Just got another phone call. Seems that Tim says the drag strip isn't sold after all. That's what comes from posting without confirming rumors. Terry Pennington spoke to Tim a few minutes ago and he says it ain't a done deal. Here's a link to a Channel 57 print story and a short video from Channel 57. http://www.abc57.com/story/33966429/osceola-dragway-for-sale-after-60-years-owner-looks-back Sorry for jumping the gun in my previous post. ou:
