Canadian Motor Speedway was a proposed motorsports park that was planned to be built in
Fort Erie, Ontario
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.
Fort Erie is one of N ...
, Canada. The development would be located on an adjacent to the
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...
highway. It consists of a 1.2 kilometre (¾ mile) progressive bank oval and road course. With 65,000 seats and 40 suites, Canadian Motor Speedway would be the largest speedway in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the second-largest sporting venue, in terms of seating capacity, in the country (behind only
Montreal's Olympic Stadium). Its location provides it with a large market area, being from the Canada/USA border with
Buffalo, N.Y.
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
and from
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
.
It is a hybrid development with aspects that would make it unique from other racetracks. It will have the two race courses as well as, Research and Development, Light Industrial and Commercial areas on the site. A specific objective is to develop relevance for motorsports through the initiatives of the Research and Development area, which concentrates on advancing fuels, materials and power train technologies, while augmenting environmental sustainability through a bio diversity initiative.
Further benefits from the development include providing a strong employment base, with a projected 730 operational jobs for the Speedway, R&D, Light Industrial and Commercial zones and 1,200 construction jobs over 21 months for the speedway and road course. Events would draw patrons from areas outside of the Niagara region to increase the number of tourists to the area. The result is a proposed new dollar economic impact of $400 million annually.
Daily activities would include R&D testing, road course track days (for car and motorcycle clubs), driver experience sessions on the oval, corporate team-building seminars/track time, charity fundraiser events, motocross and kart practice sessions, and snowmobile sessions in season. The Speedway would feature 10 summer weekend Special Events, under a permit from the Town of Fort Erie.
None of Canadian Motor Speedway's developers could be contacted from 2018 to 2020. The speedway had been given until 2020 to begin construction before the government revokes the
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
privileges necessary for the project to go forth; its developers emerged weeks before that deadline to request an extension, citing a change in financial backing. After the extension was granted, then allowed to expire, the purpose speedway grounds were put up for sale, ending the project.
Design
Canadian Motor Speedway features many unique aspects for the racetrack layout and the total development. The design team will be led by 4-time
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Sprint Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...
champion
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
.
The development is made up of three core areas, the oval and road course, centrally located, the research and development area to the south and east of the site, and the Commercial area to the north. The major parking and camping areas are located to the immediate west and southwest of the development.
One of the central design/development parameters is the environmental element. A master planned biodiversity park will be employed to enhance sustainability and passive connectivity throughout the site. The current environmental features of the site are being increased with the remediation of the Miller's Creek corridor and the implementation of filter beds in constrained areas.
Speedway
Centring the layout will be a 1.2 km (¾ mile) oval with progressive banking.
It will feature the latest innovations in design and safety. The oval will have 60,000 grandstand seats, 5,000 club seats and 80 suites along its start/finish straight for spectators. The speedway has been pre-approved to expand to as many as 100,000 grandstand seats. Inside the oval will house the race garages, medical centre and media centre. The versatility of the infield will allow for a multitude of non-racing events including ice hockey, various winter sports, as well as concerts and other popular entertainment events.
Road course
A multi-configuration road course is planned. The
FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
/
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
track will incorporate the oval through tunnels in and out under the back straight of the oval. This design will be unique in providing a "stadium section" for the road course that will utilize the permanent seating of the oval. The elevations of the site will allow the spectators in the oval grandstand to see the oval section as well as the back section of the road course. A second configuration will separate from the oval, and use only the back section of the road course to allow the oval and back road course to be used independently. A 2nd paddock area will be built along the longest straight to accommodate the back course. The road course paddock area will also be the location of light industrial buildings for race teams and motorsport related shops.
A
CIK international grade
karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
facility is planned to allow regional and International karting at the facility.
Research and development
A Research and Development campus, in collaboration with
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
's Faculty of Engineering,
Niagara College
The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology (frequently shortened to Niagara College and branded as Niagara College Canada) is a public List of Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, College of Applied Arts and Technology with ...
, and other education partners is to be constructed on the southern portion of the site. R&D activities performed will be related to the motorsport and automotive industries, such as prototype testing, design and development. This R&D Centre / Innovation Park portion of the development is limited to by the Special Policy Area Zoning By-law. On July 7, 2014, a Memorandum of Understanding with Niagara College was signed to also explore the potential for CMS to host classes, co-op students and post-graduate placements in automotive power programs as well as hospitality, renewable technologies, innovation, media, business, and more.
Commercial
A 74-acre (30 hectare) commercial and retail area has been approved to the north of the site and will be a part of the second phase.
Carbon neutral
The biodiversity plan, ties in with the theme of establishing a beneficial co-existence between the project and the environment. The development will employ proper forest management practices, to enhance the forest ecosystem, and increase the tree cover on the site by . Canadian Motor Speedway will use grass parking areas to reduce the overall environmental impact and footprint, while enhancing the water quality systems that exist on the site. Canadian Motor Speedway will undertake initiatives to design, construct and operate the facility as the first
carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
track in the world.
Development process
The Canadian Motor Speedway was conceptualized in 2005. Site selection and investment began in 2007. Previous attempts at a speedway in Niagara, were made by other individuals and failed primarily due to lack of resources, a workable business plan, and a flawed development strategy. A complete review of the business model coupled by the formulation of alliances with Jeff Gordon Inc., and other development partners resulted in an opportunity that would meet investor expectations while creating significant value for local communities in the area. Following 14 months of comprehensive studies, that included 22 reports, the planning submission for a special policy area was made to the Town of Fort Erie and Region of Niagara in February/March 2009.
[By-law Amendment Application](_blank)
/ref>
A public open house hosted by Canadian Motor Speedway was held on June 4, 2009, to introduce the project to the public. The first presentation to Fort Erie Town council came on September 8, 2009, with the report from town staff of the application to amend the Fort Erie Official Plan and Zoning By-law.[Fort Erie By-law Amendment Recommendation]
Retrieved September 10, 2010 Requests for recommendation reports on the Official Plan Amendment and Regional Official Plan Amendment were made on November 23, 2009,
/ref> and November 25, 2009, respectively. On December 7, 2009, following a 6+ hour council meeting that had 59 delegations the Town of Fort Erie Council voted unanimously to approve the Official Plan Amendment. On December 9, 2009, the Region of Niagara council also voted unanimously to approve the Regional Official Plan Amendment.[Niagara Integrated Community and Public Works Committee]
/ref> The by-laws to enact the amendments were passed on December 14 by the Town of Fort Erie and February 11, 2010, by the Region of Niagara.
On September 7, 2010, the planning staff of the Town of Fort Erie submitted a recommendation report No. CDS-048-10 to council to approve the re-zoning application, of Canadian Motor Speedway.
/ref> The report was accepted and Fort Erie Town council voted unanimously to approve the re-zoning By-law No. 106-10 for the property for Canadian Motor Speedway after the third reading on September 13, 2010.[Fort Erie Council Meeting]
Retrieved September 14, 2010 The site of the Canadian Motor Speedway is considered a Special Policy Area for the use of motorsport related activities.
Appeals against the development were taken to the Ontario Municipal Board for hearing in June 2012.[http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/ecs/CaseDetail.aspx?n=PL100362] A decision was rendered on November 5, 2012, to approve the development and allow it to proceed, with certain holding provisions, to the next stage in the development process.
On October 9, 2013, construction began for the initial re-development of Miller Creek - a significant environmental enhancement on the site. The speedway is now expected to be completed by 2017.
In the July 28, 2014 issue of ''Maclean's Magazine'', an article about Canadian Motor Speedway appeared in the Economy section.
On September 11, 2014, Jeff Gordon was in Toronto for the 'Chase Across North America' Sprint Cup Championship media tour and spoke of Canadian Motor Speedway.
An update on July 5, 2016, stated that the land required had not been purchased, and the developers now claimed they will have a building permit by 2017. No completion date for the project had been offered lately by the developers, but Fort Erie mayor Wayne Redekop told Buffalo radio station WBFO, that the speedway could be open by either late 2018 or "the first quarter of 2019.":
As of April 2018, development remained stalled. Developers refused to build the speedway unless an exit ramp is constructed for it off the Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...
, a proposal the Ontario government at the time opposed (it was deposed in the 2018 elections). The process remained completely stalled even after the change in government. In July 2019, the ''St. Catharines Standard
The ''St. Catharines Standard'' is a daily newspaper of the city of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. As of May 2020, the publication was owned by Torstar but on May 26, 2020, the company agreed to be acquired by NordStar Capital, a private investm ...
'' attempted to follow-up with CMS officials regarding the project's status and was hung up on by all relevant parties. The speedway has until September 13, 2020—the date that the speedway's zoning waiver expires—to file for a building permit
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
; if none is filed by then, the project will be forcibly cancelled and the land will revert to being zoned for agriculture.[ In August 2020, the project's developers emerged to request an extension on its zoning waiver, stating that a major backer from ]Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
had dropped out of the project and that they planned on beginning construction in early 2021 if the waiver were extended. The waiver was granted, with an expiration of November 2021. In spring 2021, the owner, still unable to secure replacement funds, began putting some of the peripheral land up for sale; surrounding landowners noted that he had not approached them about buying the necessary parcels to allow the project to move forward. The waiver expired in November, ending the project.
See also
* List of auto racing tracks in Canada
This is a list of auto racing tracks in Canada. The number of turns and track length are based on the standard, full courses for each track. The major series in bold listed are currently hold a race at the track.
Road courses
Street circuit, ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.cdnmotorspeedway.com/
Proposed sports venues in Canada
Motorsport venues in Ontario
Road racing venues in Canada
Jeff Gordon
Buildings and structures under construction in Canada