Lorain should consider OK’ing track project

Lorain City Council should consider passing legislation March 13 to allow McCrone Motor Sports in Elyria to build a race-themed entertainment venue at Cromwell Park, a 204-acre site between Colorado Avenue and the Black River on Lorain’s east side.

Kris McCrone, owner of McCrone Motorsports, visited Council at its meeting March 6 in City Hall along with supporters of the project urging officials to expedite work on their end so that the $6 million can project can go forward.

More than a year ago, McCrone announced his intention to build the track.

McCrone has appeared several times before Council to pitch his proposal on this monumental project.

And, now it’s time for Council to seriously consider whether to get behind it.

The project looks promising as Council decided to hold a meeting March 13 to further discuss the matter.

Councilman-at-Large Mitchell Fallis, a strong supporter of the project, is right when he said it’s time to get it moving and get it done.

Fallis believes the racetrack could become internationally known once it gets started.

Now dubbed “Lorain Motor Sports Park,” the complex would start with three race tracks: one a world-class professional track that would attract events to the city; a second that would be used for gokart type-racing and could be used for family and group outings; and a track that would be indoors, allowing the facility to be used 365 days a year.

McCrone and his representatives told Council they’d like to hold an Ohio Go-Kart Competition on Aug. 18, 19 and 20 at what will become the “gokart capital of the world.”

Lorain is already known as the International City and the Steel City. It is the home of Toni Morrison, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993; Helen Steiner Rice, a writer of both inspirational and Christian poetry; and Admiral Ernest Joseph King, who served as commander-in-chief for U.S. Fleet and chief of Naval Operations during World War II. It boasts Lakeview Beach on Lake Erie and its famous lighthouse. Why not add another attribute?

There are many other individuals and shrines associated with Lorain, but the go-kart capital of the world sounds pretty good, too.

In addition to the tracks, the mega complex would include a restaurant, retail or possibly a hotel.

On Oct. 17, McCrone appeared before Council for an unscheduled hour-long presentation to let the city know it still wanted approval for the track.

He brought with him developers Nick Sakiewicz, who represents NES Sports and Real Estate Development, and Charlie Thornton, co-chief executive officer of CAAIcon.

Sakiewicz and Thornton have credible resumes where they were involved in the transformation of unproductive land.

Sakiewicz, a former pro soccer player, has been in the sports complex development business for 30 years, and has a proven record of turning brownfield sites into booming successes.

Also, Sakiewicz was a founding executive of Major League Soccer and has worked on projects with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and the late Lamar Hunt, who owned the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sakiewicz also told Council of his success in building Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., on a former 300-acre brownfield site. Today, there are over 3,000 housing units, two million square feet of groundlevel retail space and thousands of jobs.

Thornton, whose firm works as a project manager in giant stadium builds, has completed work on the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Thornton and Sakiewicz worked together on Subaru Park outside of Philadelphia, home of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union.

The stadium was built on a 110-acre brownfield site.

Sakiewicz has worked on a project to develop the area around Staples Arena in downtown Los Angeles, and was working on a project in Tempe, Ariz., to build an arena, theater, outdoor theater, housing and retail.

Council did approve a zoning change to B-2 Business from I-2 Industrial on Feb. 21, 2022, with a 10-0 vote for construction of the project despite objections from the Black River Audubon Society, a local nature lovers group that wanted to preserve the former landfill along the river.

Developing the unproductive land at Cromwell Park for the entertainment complex will economically benefit the International City with jobs and a greater tax base.

The time appears to be right for this project to get started.

So, Council really should contemplate passing legislation that could make this project one of Lorain’s biggest attractions.