A rendering of where the track would be built at the Kino Sports Complex.
A rendering of where the track would be built at the Kino Sports Complex.

Update: The Pima County Bond Committee passed a motion delaying a decision on including a velodrome in the 2015 bond.

UA Cycling Club president Joey Iuliano was at the meeting and said the committee wanted the group to come back with a more refined plan. He said the committee wanted clarification on who would run the velodrome and how it would generate revenue.

The refined presentation will take place on January 9. 

Cyclists in Arizona hoping to bring a velodrome to Tucson have an opportunity to show their support on Friday.

The Pima County Bond Committee will hear a brief presentation from supporters of the velodrome and discuss including it in a 2015 bond election at their meeting on Friday morning.

University of Arizona Cycling Club member Ben Elias has been working with a group of supporters including Richard DeBernardis of Perimeter Bicycling Association of America to get the Arizona Velodrome included in the county’s next bond.

He said the current proposal, which you can read here, calls for a $5 million capital improvement project funded by a Pima County bond, The track would be built on the Kino Sports Complex and would house additional cycling education resources.

Elias said a velodrome in Tucson makes sense because their is a large base of cyclists already here and in nearby cities in Arizona and New Mexico. Plus he said studies have shown a large economic impact attributed to velodromes.

A Pima County Bond and the Arizona Velodrome have been in consideration for several years, but has has been repeatedly delayed by the committee because of poor economic and political conditions.

“Their job is to deliver a package to the voters that is passable,” Elias said. “That’s a hard task.”

Elias said the best thing a cyclist can do is show up to the bond meeting on Friday at 8 a.m. The meeting will be held at the River Park, which is located at Cushing Street and the Frontage Road.

If however showing up isn’t possible, Elias suggested writing a letter to the bond committee in support of the project.

Here’s their suggestions:

If you would like to see a velodrome in Tucson, there are a couple things you can do to help!
1.) Send a letter of support to the Pima Bond Advisory Committee expressing why you feel a velodrome would help the region. Tell your teammates to do so as well. You can send an e-mail  to: bondinfo@pima.gov
or send a letter addressed to:
Lawrence M. Hecker, Jr.
Chairman of the Pima County Bond Advisory Committee
130 W. Congress Street, 10th Floor
Tucson, AZ 85701

2.) Then, attend and speak at the Bond Advisory Committee meeting on Dec 12, 2014 at 8am at the Arizona River Park Inn. This meeting will decide if the velodrome moves on to the bond. Each project up for discussion has a public comment period- each person in support is allowed to speak for 1 minute. The more supporters we have at the meeting the better.

 

 

3 thoughts on “Updated: Velodrome topic at Friday bond meeting”
  1. BicycleTucson 5 wanted to delete it. Thankfully there were a few supporters, & lots of maybes. Also, last name starts with an ‘i’ not L 🙂

  2. holy crap!

    does anyone realize that bonds cost taxpayers 2x their face value after servicing

    what an incredible waste this thing would be

    for the grace of god let us pray this goes nowhere

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.