The race isn’t over, but Marysville sure looks strong in its bid to land a major auto-racing facility.
Now that International Speedway Corp. has eliminated Thurston County as a contender – leaving Marysville to compete with the Bremerton and Portland areas for a Northwest NASCAR track – a glance at the map makes Marysville look like the favorite. Marysville and Bremerton are the only two sites with the ability to draw substantial numbers from all three of the region’s metropolitan areas (Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C.) and of those two, Marysville is far easier to reach for most fans.
Local officials hope to hear a decision from ISC this fall. Then it will be time to get down to the details about what kind of neighbor this facility will be. Marysville and Snohomish County officials say the details they’ll insist on will ensure that those who live closest to the facility will, on balance, benefit from it.
They vow not to agree to a deal that doesn’t incorporate substantial open space into the facility. Early drawings call for some 300 acres of grass and other open space in the 500-acre complex. Much of that would be for parking, space that could serve a range of recreational uses, from youth soccer fields to equestrian trails, on the 350-plus days a year that racing events aren’t taking place.
The alternative to NASCAR – likely a mix of commercial and residential development with vast expanses of asphalt – would leave far fewer recreational options.
Officials also say the restoration of Edgecomb Creek must be part of a NASCAR development, enhancing critical fish habitat.
Public investment in infrastructure for a track should be limited to taxes on economic activity related to the facility. The potential payback for the local and state economies easily warrants such an investment, which will undoubtedly draw exciting new retailers to the area, bringing with them new tourism dollars.
If a NASCAR track provides the impetus for greater state investment in local highways, those who live near the facility will be big winners. In exchange for noise and congestion on a handful of weekends, they’d have better roads the rest of the year. And the need to get 80,000 people in and out of town would almost certainly spawn new transit options of long-term benefit to this growing area.
Marysville officials like to point out that this opportunity won’t come again. As long as they get the details right, it’s one worth pursuing.
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