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Club Member
http://www.dragracingscene.com/news/detroit-city-airport-into-dragstrip/
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his administration are exploring the possibilities of transforming the financially troubled Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport to a dragstrip and possibly additional motorsport venues.
In the near future, the Detroit city airport may no longer involve flying. For the first time, city officials are considering the conversion of Detroit’s troubled municipal airport, which hasn’t had regular service from a commercial airline in more than 15 years. The Detroit News reports that the airport is expected to have an operating loss of $1.3 million for the 2017 fiscal year.
detroit_strip_3
Though many aviation purists are battling to keep this airport within downtown Detroit open. The mayor is considering business tourism options to revamp the property which is hemorrhaging at a $1.3 million loss just in fiscal 2017 alone.
The 264-acre site has two asphalt runways: a 5,090-foot-long main runway and a crosswind runway of 4,025 feet. All of Detroit’s commercial airline services use the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, located in a nearby suburb. Another nail in the airport’s proverbial “coffin” is the fact that the runways cannot be expanded for longer runways needed for growth due to the facility being surrounded by cemeteries.
In this similar timeline, the Detroit Mayor has publicly held meetings to discuss two avenues of increased tourism for the financially troubled city. Mayor Duggan is considering proposals to make Detroit a destination for drag racing and techno dance clubs. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “The mayor was also receptive to the idea of taking drag racing off the streets and putting it into the city airport, where advocates say a race track would be a money maker and jobs creator.”
detroit_strip_2
The first quotes from the mayor concerning the dragstrip back in June of this year are based on the effort to “keep streets safer and keep people from being arrested.” Now, Detroit news stories have blossomed into proposals of an entire motorsports complex that would host the drag racing venue plus an opportunity to relocate the popular Detroit Grand Prix, which has met large scale opposition at recent events for being held in one of Detroit City’s park districts.
One nearby motorsports and aviation industry correlation is Kalitta Flying Services, also located in the Detroit area. What irony would it be if the Top/Fuel star were to be removed from the home of his mega-aviation business for a dragstrip? A little research found that the Kalittas are located out of Willow Run airport just 50 miles away.
Since the administration has set aside $200,000 to study various proposals for the airport, just send the money here to Drag Racing Scene, and we will tell you “hell yes.”
Just as a side note concerning the “techno” side of the Detroit tourism-business effort, the electronic music and techno dance industry are a $6.5 billion industry globally with origins in Detroit. It’s good to see the sport of drag racing within the “motor city” is getting that kind of notoriety and interest as well.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his administration are exploring the possibilities of transforming the financially troubled Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport to a dragstrip and possibly additional motorsport venues.
In the near future, the Detroit city airport may no longer involve flying. For the first time, city officials are considering the conversion of Detroit’s troubled municipal airport, which hasn’t had regular service from a commercial airline in more than 15 years. The Detroit News reports that the airport is expected to have an operating loss of $1.3 million for the 2017 fiscal year.
detroit_strip_3
Though many aviation purists are battling to keep this airport within downtown Detroit open. The mayor is considering business tourism options to revamp the property which is hemorrhaging at a $1.3 million loss just in fiscal 2017 alone.
The 264-acre site has two asphalt runways: a 5,090-foot-long main runway and a crosswind runway of 4,025 feet. All of Detroit’s commercial airline services use the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, located in a nearby suburb. Another nail in the airport’s proverbial “coffin” is the fact that the runways cannot be expanded for longer runways needed for growth due to the facility being surrounded by cemeteries.
In this similar timeline, the Detroit Mayor has publicly held meetings to discuss two avenues of increased tourism for the financially troubled city. Mayor Duggan is considering proposals to make Detroit a destination for drag racing and techno dance clubs. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “The mayor was also receptive to the idea of taking drag racing off the streets and putting it into the city airport, where advocates say a race track would be a money maker and jobs creator.”
detroit_strip_2
The first quotes from the mayor concerning the dragstrip back in June of this year are based on the effort to “keep streets safer and keep people from being arrested.” Now, Detroit news stories have blossomed into proposals of an entire motorsports complex that would host the drag racing venue plus an opportunity to relocate the popular Detroit Grand Prix, which has met large scale opposition at recent events for being held in one of Detroit City’s park districts.
One nearby motorsports and aviation industry correlation is Kalitta Flying Services, also located in the Detroit area. What irony would it be if the Top/Fuel star were to be removed from the home of his mega-aviation business for a dragstrip? A little research found that the Kalittas are located out of Willow Run airport just 50 miles away.
Since the administration has set aside $200,000 to study various proposals for the airport, just send the money here to Drag Racing Scene, and we will tell you “hell yes.”
Just as a side note concerning the “techno” side of the Detroit tourism-business effort, the electronic music and techno dance industry are a $6.5 billion industry globally with origins in Detroit. It’s good to see the sport of drag racing within the “motor city” is getting that kind of notoriety and interest as well.
