Comments on: Car show this weekend to benefit historic Hillsborough speedway http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2007/09/27/car-show-this-weekend-to-benefit-historic-hillsborough-speedway/ Serving Carrboro and Surrounding Communities Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:47:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: John Cotterman http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2007/09/27/car-show-this-weekend-to-benefit-historic-hillsborough-speedway/#comment-8925 John Cotterman Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:46:43 +0000 http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2007/09/27/car-show-this-weekend-to-benefit-historic-hillsborough-speedway/#comment-8925 Reports on this event failed to note the connection between the efforts to resurrect the memory of the Speedway and the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, the owners of the Ayr Mount property upon which the speedway sits and one of the Celebration's sponsors. CAHPT is the creation of millionaire Wall St. financier Richard H. Jenrette who owns 6 such historic homes on the East Coast. One would not expect Mr. Jenrette to be an avid NASCAR fan. And yet in the early years of this decade when it was clear that the NC Department of Transportation wanted to build the long needed Hillsborough bypass via the Elizabeth Brady Road extension and adjacent to Ayr Mount (and presumably through the former racetrack), suddenly the speedway was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 2002. As we all know, Churton Street is the only street that runs north-south through town and it is heavily congested. The State DOT wants to take traffic off Churton and other streets in Hillsborough’s central business district. The idea of extending Elizabeth Brady Road was not new. A 1987 Hillsborough thoroughfare study recommended the road be built from 2000 to 2005. This never happened. In 2004, the State announced it also favored the Elizabeth Brady Rd. route. Bill Crowther, the overseer of Ayr Mount, was a loud voice in opposition to the plan. Having the "speedway" (which at the time was an overgrown field barely recognizable as an oval from the air) placed on the National Register could only help their cause. It is ironic then that celebrating the past auto history of the speedway contributes to the continuing downtown automobile congestion and the failure to realize an efficient transportation route for this growing town. John Cotterman Orange County Reports on this event failed to note the connection between the efforts to resurrect the memory of the Speedway and the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, the owners of the Ayr Mount property upon which the speedway sits and one of the Celebration’s sponsors.

CAHPT is the creation of millionaire Wall St. financier Richard H. Jenrette who owns 6 such historic homes on the East Coast. One would not expect Mr. Jenrette to be an avid NASCAR fan. And yet in the early years of this decade when it was clear that the NC Department of Transportation wanted to build the long needed Hillsborough bypass via the Elizabeth Brady Road extension and adjacent to Ayr Mount (and presumably through the former racetrack), suddenly the speedway was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 2002.

As we all know, Churton Street is the only street that runs north-south through town and it is heavily congested. The State DOT wants to take traffic off Churton and other streets in Hillsborough’s central business district. The idea of extending Elizabeth Brady Road was not new. A 1987 Hillsborough thoroughfare study recommended the road be built from 2000 to 2005. This never happened. In 2004, the State announced it also favored the Elizabeth Brady Rd. route. Bill Crowther, the overseer of Ayr Mount, was a loud voice in opposition to the plan. Having the “speedway” (which at the time was an overgrown field barely recognizable as an oval from the air) placed on the National Register could only help their cause. It is ironic then that celebrating the past auto history of the speedway contributes to the continuing downtown automobile congestion and the failure to realize an efficient transportation route for this growing town.

John Cotterman
Orange County

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