CC on WHYY right now

[Andrew Longman]

If you are near philly turn on the now.

If not, it will be on their archives soon

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/radiotimes.html

"Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane

Radio Times for Tuesday, August 30th
Hour 1
Should Philadelphia allow an Indy-car style race in Center City? Actor Paul Newman, who co-owns the Champ Car World Series Is proposing a 1.8 mile circuit race that would include Philadelphia's picturesque Benjamin Franklin Parkway. We'll debate this with JOE CHRNELICH, Champ Car Executive Vice President, and HAPPY FERNANDEZ, President of Moore College of Art and Design, which is located along the proposed racecourse. "

[Gangrel]

If you are near philly turn on the now.

If not, it will be on their archives soon

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/radiotimes.html

"Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane

Radio Times for Tuesday, August 30th
Hour 1
Should Philadelphia allow an Indy-car style race in Center City? Actor Paul Newman, who co-owns the Champ Car World Series Is proposing a 1.8 mile circuit race that would include Philadelphia's picturesque Benjamin Franklin Parkway. We'll debate this with JOE CHRNELICH, Champ Car Executive Vice President, and HAPPY FERNANDEZ, President of Moore College of Art and Design, which is located along the proposed racecourse. "

Co-owns CCWS? Paul Newman? Is this a new spin CC is throwing on their stories, or just a case of the media not getting their facts straight?

[DagoFast]

Co-owns CCWS? Paul Newman? Is this a new spin CC is throwing on their stories, or just a case of the media not getting their facts straight?

Undoubtedly a case of the media not knowing shiznit. It's become so pervasive, and most people don't question anything anymore anyway. (ooh! triple alliteration!)

The character I would love to see is this "Happy Fernandez". If they resemble a certain ex-cart driver, I say start shooting the nearby curtains and see if Ffred nations body falls out.

[rabbit]

Listened to the last 15 min. live online.

[Andrew Longman]

Happy clearly just hates the idea, but at least she was civil.

"Jet powered cars going 200 mph in front of my school just doesn't send the message I think we want to be sending about the city or this part of the city we are trying to make more pedestrian friendly"

Joe did well. He seemed reasoned and open and said many times CCWS doesn't want to do this unless nearly everyone is happy about it. But he will never convince the art museum crowd. Happy discounted his comments that technically interested race fans would like to visit the Franklin Institute too.

I was surprised by Joe's comments that CCWS interest in Philly had gotten out before they were really ready to talk about it. He took the blame but said they really like to prep the interested parties and do the leg work before it all gets out.

[pferrf1]

Happy clearly just hates the idea, but at least she was civil.

"Jet powered cars going 200 mph in front of my school just doesn't send the message I think we want to be sending about the city or this part of the city we are trying to make more pedestrian friendly"

Joe did well. He seemed reasoned and open and said many times CCWS doesn't want to do this unless nearly everyone is happy about it. But he will never convince the art museum crowd. Happy discounted his comments that technically interested race fans would like to visit the Franklin Institute too.

I was surprised by Joe's comments that CCWS interest in Philly had gotten out before they were really ready to talk about it. He took the blame but said they really like to prep the interested parties and do the leg work before it all gets out.

Internet rumour mongering has killed more than one CART/CCWS deal along the way.

[Elmo T]

I caught the tail end of the show. Calls were mixed, my guess is through call screening.

Of those who were against, they were ill-informed. References to stock cars, rednecks, and arguing the point that Champ Car fans are not the type to flock to artistic venues or museums.

Happy made quite a few references to her concern about "steady income" from other events. I don't buy it. The race will pour money into the city's pockets: hotels, museums, restaurants, etc. I've been by their museum or art school or whatever it is. It always looks like a ghost town to me. I'd guess attendance would be way up on a race weekend.

My money will be spent on Champ Car races next year (and 2007). The question is will the money go to Philly or some other city. :shakehead

[fourrunner]

Elmo ... I missed it so I'll have to listen to it Archived

What cracks me up is the total ignorance of the public about Champ Car

and to Happy ... Moore College of Art is the "Ugliest" Building on the Parkway ... Very 1950's Industrial Glass & Brick ....The Hotels look Nicer ...
Certainly not in the Museum's on the Parkway's league .. Considering it's an Art Achool ... I guess it looks "Kitschy"

Glad she was Civil ... Hope the Champ Car people can get a compromise going

[Andrew Longman]

Link to archive page http://www.whyy.org/cgi-bin/newwebRTlookup.cgi

I forgot to mention yesterday that Joe also said he and the "CCWS track designer" walked the area on Monday and thought they could reconfigure the track to address nearly every concern about permanent changes to the streets. He also said they no longer want to pave an area for the paddock that was pissing off little leaguers. Instead they are looking to build something that would provide a revenue source for the little league (otherwise vague about what that might be. I don't think that's a hot dog stand).

It sounds to me that complaints about changes to the streets will no longer be valid and it will come down to those who simply hate the idea of a race on their streets fighting against those that do.

Sounds like we'll need more of Newman's and Mario's charm, ;)

[rabbit]

Philly Inquirer column (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local2/region/12518562.htm) (Registration required) http://www.bugmenot.com/

Wed, Aug. 31, 2005

Time to step to starting line

By Michael J. Seneca

For a few years in the early 1900s, the great names in auto racing came to Philadelphia to compete - in scenic Fairmount Park.

From 1908 to 1911, the city hosted an annual road race through West Fairmount Park that attracted pioneers such as Ralph DePalma, Ray Harroun and George Robertson. The course was challenging, but the race had a perfect safety record. Attendance peaked at 600,000 in 1910.

Opposition to the races eventually led to their demise, and now history seems to be repeating itself. A proposal for a Champ Car World Series race along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is being vigorously challenged. Critics say it would require too many permanent changes, such as reconfigured streets and construction of temporary pedestrian bridges, and spoil the Parkway's carefully cultivated cultural atmosphere.

Rather than dismissing the road race altogether, I think we should begin looking for ways to compromise. We need only to look to the city's racing history to see the competition's benefits.

When members of the Quaker City Motor Club proposed the idea of a race in Fairmount Park, they expected plenty of resistance. After all, Philadelphia had a reputation for being a dull town that did not make an effort to promote itself or embrace new ideas.

Initially, there were no problems. The first race was planned for Founders' Week, a celebration of the city's 225th anniversary, Oct. 4-10, 1908. Motor Club officials also tried to address all conceivable arguments against the race in their proposal. Still, they were surprised when the proposal sailed through the Fairmount Park Commission.

Slowly, though, resistance began to surface, and in 1912, after four years of great success, the commission voted to ban what was then described as the best road race in the country.

J. William White, the park commissioner who led the fight against the race, insisted he was concerned about safety, but since the race had a perfect safety record, everyone knew he had other motives. His effort to ban the race actually had more to do with that old Philadelphia tradition of rejecting anything new.

White, a surgeon and medical textbook author, was an avid sports fan who loved football and baseball, but he did not consider auto racing a sport. "It is demoralizing to see such [a] type of man exalted as a hero," he said of race-car drivers.

Much was lost when the road races were banned from Fairmount Park. Without the thousands of visitors each year, Philadelphia businesses suffered financially. Hotels were not fully booked during that week in October. Railroads were not packed with fans traveling to the city. Retail stores, theaters and restaurants lost thousands of customers.

If the Champ Car race is not allowed, present-day Philadelphia could be passing up much-needed monetary benefits. Cars would be circulating the track for a few hours each day of the event. During the balance of their visit, racing fans would stay in hotels and visit museums, historic sites, restaurants and stores.

In the same way that White felt a sense of ownership over Fairmount Park, the cultural institutions along the Parkway today feel a sense of ownership over the Parkway. But will a few institutions be allowed to stand in the way of this race, just as White stood in the way of the Fairmount Park race almost a century ago? Institutions along the Parkway would be among those benefiting the most from it.

John E. Reyburn was Philadelphia's mayor during the Fairmount Park Motor Races, and it is unlikely that they would have occurred without his support. Reyburn worked with the Fairmount Park Commission to obtain permission for the races, he helped choose the course, he provided police, and on the day of each race, he toured the course himself to ensure that spectators were in safe areas. Then he'd take his seat in the grandstand.

There is another project that Reyburn strongly supported during his tenure: the creation of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Without Mayor Reyburn, the Parkway as we know it might not exist. He saw both the motor races, and beautification projects such as those on the Parkway, as means to promote the city.

Philadelphia is lucky to have the opportunity to host a Champ Car race; only seven American cities did so this year. If Philadelphia passes on this, there are plenty of other cities that will jump at the chance to replace us.

It is time for Philadelphia to once again stage the most spectacular road race in the country.
---
Michael J. Seneca of Glendora, Camden County, is the author of the 2003 book "The Fairmount Park Motor Races, 1908-1911."

[Andrew Longman]

What a thoughtful piece :thumbup:

The irony of Reyburn founding both the Fairmont race and the building of the Parkway where they want to run a race now.

And 600,000? That's amazing. I had no idea. How much did the loss of this race fuel the growth of Indy?

[Jervis Tetch 1]

:D :thumbup: