BLAINE, Minn. – (May 19, 2016) – The National Sports Center (NSC) announced that the National Sports Center Velodrome will kick off its racing season on May 19 with the first race of the popular Thursday Night Lights weekly racing series, which will run through September 8.
After $100,000 in repairs were accomplished through a partnership between the NSC and the Friends of Velodrome Racing in Minnesota (FOVRMN) in the spring of 2015, and additional preseason repairs were completed in March and April of 2016, the NSC Velodrome is standing strong for the upcoming racing season.
The NSC Velodrome is one of the most unique facilities at the world-renowned sports campus, and dates back to the opening of the original NSC campus in 1990. Designed by the world-famous velodrome design firm, Schurmann Architects of Berlin, Germany, the 250-meter wood track has hosted the 1992 Olympic Cycling Trials, several U.S. National Championships, international Grand Prix meets, a weekly race series, development classes and training sessions.
Through its 26 years of continuous operation, the NSC Velodrome has required ongoing maintenance, both to its Afzelia wood surface and to the wood trusses that support the track surface. Over the years, most of the maintenance work has been performed by volunteer carpenters who have learned the craft of repairing the track.
Bob Williams, Velodrome Director at NSC said that although a huge renovation was completed last spring, in order to maintain safe operation, preseason repairs were needed before the start of the upcoming season.
“This was the earliest we completed these repairs,” Williams said. “We had a great turnout of volunteers.”
Volunteers resealed 150 meters of asphalt, rebuilt with winner’s podium, repainted the racing lines and replaced 50 strips of wood on the track.
While the repairs will extend the racing life of the track, the Velodrome is “nearing the end of its life,” according to Williams. Both the NSCF and the FOVRMN have agreed that the 2019 season will be the final season of racing at the Velodrome, so the track will operate for four more years, pending annual inspections.
The four-year window will keep velodrome racing alive in the Twin Cities, and give the Minnesota Cycling Center time to generate funding to move forward with an indoor cycling facility at a different location in the Twin Cities, including plans that call for an indoor velodrome.
Though plans for a new facility are in the works, the NSC Velodrome will be the primary facility for racing and training this season and will host the Fixed Gear Classic, an elite level race, June 10-11, 2016.
