Preliminary Josephine County Fairgrounds Racing Track Day

I would need to see a drawing of what you have in mind to be able to give some input on jumps and features.  Also to address Bartlejuices concern's I would make the track as large as possible to keep it moving forward, you've heard me enough I hope about how important it is about it being large, a small track will wimper out quick.  To the second concern of Bartlejuices about brushed rigs, almost everyone runs a BL rig if anything anymore and to further that most brushed rigs like when we talk about SC trucks are more than fast enough and are what we run on our large pro circuit tracks.  Make it big, make the jumps big, trust me brushed rigs can handle 4 foot tall jumps and it teaches people how to drive!

Josephine County Fairgrounds

I have some bad news regarding the use of the Fairgrounds for RC racing.
When we, Mike and I, initially approached the fairgrounds inquiring on using their facility we had already done a reconnaissance visit on Monday, November 30th to see for ourselves what we had heard from Adam might be an available arena for us to race at.  The space was described as a open, covered arena.  This is what Mike and I found:





We walked around and thought this would be ideal for us.  It is covered, has electricity on all upright beams around the perimeter, has 25 lights in a 5 x 5 configuration under the roof and also has several water faucets along the south side.  During our visit that evening we even managed to get some of the lights to turn on via a coin operated box on the side of the electrical panel.
After that initial visit we were both very pleased with the venue and felt that it would be a great fit for our RC racing.

On Thursday, December 1st Mike and I approached the offices of the fairgrounds to inquire if the facility we had previously visited was available and were pleased to hear from Cynthia and Deb, who told us is on the board of the fairgrounds, inside the offices that indeed they were interested and thought that what we were doing was great.  Mike and I described the open arena we had been looking at and someone in the office called the venue "The Beef Barn".  On this visit the women organized a meeting for us with Wes Brown, the fairgrounds manager, for Wednesday, December 7th.

Mike and I met with Wes Brown on Wednesday the 7th and he told us he was very interested in being the venue for our RC racing.  Wes asked us which arena we were interested in and we described it to him: the large open on three sides arena with roof and lights and water and power.  While talking about dates and schedules for the usage of the facilities Wes told us that they have events previously scheduled for the months June through August at we informed him that that schedule suited us as during those months the weather was warm and we could race somewhere else.  What we really liked was a place to race in the winter and having a roof with lights was a perfect fit.
Wes told us that as far as he knew the facility was unused and again emphasized that he is interested in working with us and even discussed concessions possibilities.

Towards the end of the meeting it became apparent that Wes Brown was unclear on exactly which arena we had been discussing during the meeting and we decided to walk over and show him which one we had been speaking about.  It was at this point that we discovered that what the fairgrounds staff had been calling "The Beef Barn" was indeed not the arena that Mike and I had been speaking about which we had been calling the roofed venue open on three sides.  Wes Brown showed me this arena:



Wes said that he had been referring to the above, completely enclosed arena during the meeting.  He proceeded to unlock a door and showed me the inside, however it was evening and being unable to switch on any lights it was too dark inside to see anything.  Wes asked me if this arena would be suitable and I told him that without being able to see anything inside, or what type of dirt was on the ground it was difficult to say, however the fact that this arena is fully enclosed was even better than the original arena that we had been looking at.  Wes Brown pointed out that the original arena (open on three sides) was not scheduled and we would be able to use it on the 17th.

We left this meeting very excited that we had a arena for use now and that a even better, fully enclosed arena, might be available to us in the near future.

Yesterday, December 12th Wes told me that he was sorry, but there may be a problem with our agreement.  He wanted to show me the enclosed "Beef Barn" and discuss the issue.  Also present was a fairgrounds maintenance person who was going to show us the insides of the Beef Barn as he knew how to turn on the lights.  We drove from the fairgrounds offices following the maintenance person in his truck and he led us to this "Beef Barn":



I asked Wes Brown where we were going and he said he did not know either.  Wes asked the maintenance person about the above, third Beef Barn and he said that this is the Beef Barn and the enclosed arena is called "The Dairy Barn".

Wes asked the maintenance person if he would open the Dairy Barn for us and turn on the lights.  Inside we found it full of boats lining two adjacent walls.  It appears that these boats need to be stored indoors and if we were to use this arena we would have a space roughly half the size of original open arena we had asked about and we would have to be careful of the boats inside.  Additionally, we learned that now the schedule we had been told about would not work and we could eventually have the Dairy Barn from August to November of 2012.

I told Wes that now we have advertised the event on the 17th in the open arena per our previous meeting to which he apologized claiming that he was sorry about the misunderstanding, however he would honor our agreement to use the open arena on the 17th, but further facilities use would not be available until August 2012.

So this is where we stand: We can use the originally requested open arena for one day as planed on the 17th.  I promised to get back to Wes Brown Wednesday the 14th latest with a answer.

Personally, I feel that it is a lot to do for a one day usage, however on the other hand we promoted the event and want to honor the commitment.  Please comment with your thoughts on the situation.

-John
(GPS)

So why can't we use the open arena. It sounds like we may have to look els were because waiting til next August to only be able to set up for 3 months wouldn't be worth it . I hope this pans out in our favor but from the sounds of it we probly won't be able to make it worth wile.

I would say run away quickly!  This is not the first time someone has tried the fairgrounds approach and have been shot down.  There have already been to many limitations on it, and I'm sure from your explanation no-one here will site you for it.  I do have a number of a fella over in medford that knows about some really inexpensive property, BUT it is not covered.

Well, we need to come to a consensus tonight tonight folks.

Do we still hold the event on the 17th, or shall I cancel?

Please post your opinions tonight.

Thanks to all for the dedication. But I would say at this point to cancel.

Cancel.


Today, I took a look at the fairgrounds web site. Looking for a map and maybe some information about the facilities/use.


Two things stood out. 1. Horse owners are open to use both the indoor and outdoor arenas, daily.
2. components of their site have not been updated since 2008.
Conclusion: with what has been related and what is documented on their site, it's little wonder that they are having difficulty.


Interestingly, I did come across a reference to an indoor BMX facility. Do we know anything about this? 

It looks like I am seeing a majority who are saying cancel.
Are there any who want to keep the commitment to race on the 17th?

I think we should still hold the event. There are a lot of people that are planing to show up and I think it would be a good gage of the intest for a track in soregon.  Even if the fairgrounds falls through this will tell us wether to presu the idea or not and to try another venue.

good luck today mike.....i think that if we could re open peoples eyes about rc racing...it could grow big around here... I myself have converted 4 or 5 people just showing off my rc...so an event would be good. Even for one day... Have you guys thought about jackson county fairgrounds? Just a thought...

For the size your of area your working with that looks like a decent setup sir.  I will again say that the fairgrounds is going downhill though and has been for years as some of you know, I beleive with there disorganization and non-diligence to make any money will counter what you are proposing either sooner or later and that is never good to do all this work and have no real return.

That is a bummer that they are jacking you around. Even though I don't currently have a nitro or 1/8 scale car, I really feel a new track in Southern Oregon would do a lot better if it included them. It might take a while for people to get into them but I know i would be down to buy a nitro truggy if I had a local place with regular races.

I do like the grants pass area for the track, I assume using the fairgrounds may come with their insurance as well. I hope something can be worked out even if it has to be outdoor/fair weather racing. Good luck guys, and keep us posted.

I just found out this afternoon from the fairgrounds that we will need insurance for the one day event on the 17th.  I am chasing after insurance quotations now.  If you are a insurance agent, or know one who has done liability insurance with the fairgrounds before, please contact me right away.