One Spark 2015: Creator Wants to Restore the Velodrome

[Metro Jacksonville]

One Spark 2015: Creator Wants to Restore the Velodrome



According to USA Cycling, spectators once flocked to track cycling races much like NASCAR fans do today. Velodrome racing was a popular sport in the U.S from the early 1800s to the 1930s and has been a part of the Olympic Games since 1896. Currently, there are about 26 working velodromes across the country and many more overseas.  Jacksonville’s velodrome is located off of Beaver Street just north of Interstate 10. However, it hasn’t been regularly used for cycling in more than 20 years. It rests on land now owned by the state of Florida and managed by the city of Jacksonville. Find out about the One Spark Creator who wants to restore it after the jump!

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-apr-one-spark-2015-creator-wants-to-restore-the-velodrome

[pierre]

I had no idea this existed until reading about it in the TU a few days ago.

Too bad it is not closer to town. Looking at it on Google Earth, it is pretty much surrounded by nothing.

[Ocklawaha]

We were once the site of the 'worlds premier velodrome'.

From Streetcars of Florida's First Coast:

The Jacksonville Wheelmen bicycle association proposed building a
bicycle-friendly facility at Panama Park. Officials took a long ride out to the
site. Upon arrival, the group showed D.F. Jack, president of the Jacksonville
Street Railway, around the facility and explained the plans in detail. "We
plan to build the finest concrete bike racetrack in the south here," said Mr.
Pride, president of the Wheelmen. The group also toured the new casino site,
saltwater bathing area, baseball fields, tennis courts, children's playground
and the rest of the resort in general.

Mr. Jack committed that the Jacksonville Street Railway would extend its
lines out to Panama Park if the Wheelmen continued their own commitment
to the project. On that point, there was no doubt—over half of the bonds for
the parks construction had already been subscribed.

Pride was more than pleased; he stated, "All that was needed was the
certainty of having an electric road from the city to Panama; now that we
are assured of having the road built, you can safely say that the Wheelmen
will carry out their original plan."

In July, the Main Street Railway ordered a new batch of electric streetcars.
They were small, being only twenty-four feet long, and the woodwork in
them was said to have made them beauties. On March 1, 1895, the city had
eight electric cars on hand with four more expected at any moment.

About this same time, the Jacksonville Street Railway was at work stringing
power lines along Bay Street. An issue arose over the city's new power plant.
In a statement to the city council, a company representative asked if it could
provide power to either public or private locations. The JSRY was making
inroads into the power business; already, Union Station and the cooling fans
at E.A. Ricker's bought their electricity from the street railway. There was
no immediate decision.

It is unclear if the Jacksonville Streetcar System had a dedicated funeral
car. In the days before the thirty-automobile motorcades, the venerable
funeral car provided the needed space. Generally, a decorated church chapel,
complete with stained glass and dark curtains, a party of fifty or so mourners
plus a small podium or pulpit and a space for the casket of the deceased
would have been provided.

By April 1895, the Times-Union was certainly clamoring for such an
accommodation. The paper found it strange that though the two lines
reached within a mile and a quarter of Evergreen Cemetery, neither had
been extended to the "city of the dead."

By August, the Jacksonville Street Railway had reached the Panama Park
resort and bicycle track.

The finished product had grandstands, concrete track, lighting, concessions, band stand and a streetcar route to it's front door.

[Overstreet]

What he may have in mind is similar to the Major Taylor Velodrome in the Indy Cycloplex.

http://indycycloplex.com/




from Indycycloplex..com

The Indy Cycloplex is a unique property: a collection of first-class facilities in multiple cycling disciplines. The Cycloplex is an Indianapolis city park that includes the historic Major Taylor Velodrome, a newly-renovated BMX track, a dynamic cyclocross course.

Through a 30-year agreement with the City of Indianapolis that began in April 2011, Marian University manages and operates the Lake Sullivan Sports Complex property, now known as the Indy Cycloplex, home of the Major Taylor Velodrome. The Major Taylor Velodrome has been the home of the Marian University Cycling Team since 1992, and the Knights are consistently one of the top collegiate cycling programs in the country, owning 27 USA Cycling collegiate national team championships in four disciplines and many individual national titles.

The Indy Cycloplex is positioned to be a destination for regular regional and national caliber cycling competitions and events. Locally, the Cycloplex acts as a hub for recreational cycling. It is easily accessible by bike to Downtown Indianapolis via off-street bike paths or on-street bike lanes. The Cycloplex's size and facilities also make it the home of many community events each year.

Lake Sullivan Sports Complex is part of the Riverside Regional Park and home to unique recreational opportunities. The Cycloplex is home to an urban garden, weekly farmers' market, daily programming, and more. In all, the park is a wheel-oriented athletic facility, greenspace, and public venue.