Speed it up in downtown High Point
My column today:
Leaving a wedding reception at the International Home Furnishings Club in downtown High Point Saturday night, I noticed one thing right away: You could run a car race around there and not cause a traffic problem.
There’s just not much going on in High Point’s central business district most of the time, not even Saturday night.
High Point’s business, after all, is furniture marketing. Except during the April and October markets, and a few smaller events during the year, you’ve got the same solitude after dark you’d see in a beach town in January.
Sure, High Point Theatre, Noble’s restaurant, the Radisson Hotel and the rail depot generate some activity. But let’s face it: High Point would love to have a problem like Greensboro’s, where large, hard-to-manage crowds spill out of the bars onto South Elm Street late at night.
Downtown High Point is so dull that even the cruisers prowl miles farther up North Main Street, where at least they can find places to stop for a burger or ice cream.
The irony is that downtown looks good, thanks to dazzling furniture showroom buildings. It’s just that no one uses them most of the year.
How to fill the empty spaces and spare time is a challenge High Point has never solved. Notable failures include the defunct Furnishings Festival, which had a run of a few years but was neither very exciting nor very popular.
Maybe it’s just a matter of finding the right idea. ...
Last week, a group called Furniture City Motorsports stepped up with a new and boldly creative proposal:
Turn downtown streets into a road course for grand prix-style racing events.
Now, that’s exciting. And popular? We’re talking racin’!
As ideas go, this one is pedal to the metal. It’s not just out of the box, it’s blasting out of the box at full speed.
The people behind it proved they were serious when they hired an expert consultant, Chris Kneifel, an internationally known driver and course designer. Kneifel spent eight hours walking downtown streets Aug. 11, then laid out a 1.7-mile circuit he thinks would produce terrific racing.
“We’re capable of racing anything that North America has to offer, including IndyCars,” said Mike Foster, Furniture City Motorsports chairman, who trekked with Kneifel that day.
A commercial airline pilot, Foster began working on this plan more than a year ago, inspired by visits to Long Beach, Calif., which hosts an annual IndyCar Series grand prix. He convinced others to join his team, including Francel Goude, Richard Wood, Rich Brenner, Ed Price and Benny Phillips.
The idea was “so outrageous and extreme it got everybody’s attention,” he said.
It still requires a lot more work. The city has to approve. Sponsors must kick in money. One of the racing circuits has to agree to add a High Point event. Temporary grandstands capable of seating thousands would be needed. Hundreds of other details would have to be addressed.
But other cities do it. Why not High Point?
Road courses are increasingly popular as American race fans learn what Europeans have known since the invention of the automobile: There’s more than one way to go other than counterclockwise around an oval.
High Point’s market district presents an appealing backdrop. Cars accelerating past Showplace and cornering around the John Coltrane statue would draw attention to downtown’s under-appreciated but distinctive features.
Drivers would find a course offering streets wide enough for passing, straightaways long enough for reaching speeds of 175 mph, sweeping turns, elevation changes and good sight lines.
“We have something in our hands that we can legitimately discuss with any racing series or sponsor in America,” Foster said.
A race wouldn’t transform downtown High Point. As long as most of the real estate exists only for furniture markets, the center city won’t be busy year-round. But making something else happen is a start. If it happens at 175 mph, all the better.
High Point is a fast-paced place every April and October but maybe we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Thanks for reading. You may call me at 373-7039, email me at dgclark@news-record.com or post a comment right here.
Comments (1)
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Anythang that heps bring in more a them slinky fast Eurpean wimens to town is alright by me just like the markets.
Posted on August 21, 2008 2:08 PM