Here's the original post I made about it in 2012, when the possibilities seemed as far-out and yet possible as landing men on the moon.
The velodrome started in 2011 when the CEO of petego.com convinced a bunch of people to fund what he called a "velo-campus". Starting with a humble velodrome, the idea was to eventually have Olympic cycling training facilities for track, BMX, cyclocross, and road. But, as I was told, the CEO was hard to work with, and eventually skipped town without paying the bills, leaving the track sitting and in debt. Marcus of Yojimbo's Garage took over as a volunteer and after a couple years managed to secure funding, but...
US Steel Corp – the people who walked out on the south side and left a legacy of poisonous topsoil and ruined waterways for the state to clean up on the taxpayer's dollar while they continue to reap staggering profits – raised the rent. For reasons that I can only speculate on, US Steel would rather have a huge, decaying, empty lot on their former grounds than a useful public amenity.
And so, today the velodrome sits unused and rotting. It will eventually either burn down or fall down on its own, another casualty to neglectful urban planning and the greed of a few durps with corner offices.
Though here's an interesting sentence I never thought I'd write: The good people of Indiana stepped in to make the former US Steel plant a better place to live. At the site of a recently demolished coal-fired power plant on the Illinois/Indiana border, they put in a new bike trail that will (eventually) link the people of Downtown Chicago to the vast trail network of Indiana, ending at the Three Floyds Brew Pub! And if Illinois can get it's act together, there are plans to have an unbroken off-street trail that follows the Chicago River and links Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, going right through downtown Chicago on the way. Check out the advocacy for the missing stretch here: http://activetrans.org/our-work/bicycling/chicago-river-trail.
BTW, here's a fun tidbit: that phallic looking bit of stone work on the right side of the picture above is actually the oldest known monument in the State of Illinois, erected (presumably) to mark the Illinois/Indiana border. It's known as Alan J. Benson Park, named after the coal plant administrator who discovered its history.
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I passed the veladrome today and couldn't help but wonder what is happening with it, and glad that it is still standing. I first came across it in the early 2000's and was surprised. In the years following I've never seen signs of life there or any indication that there was a grassroots
ReplyDeleteeffort to save it. By Googling the veladrome I've learned
it was active in 2016, if even on a limited basis. I've
never seen a sign on the fence acknowledging what it is
or announcing a limited schedule. If word wasn't put out
how could anyone help? Such a waste.