The follow on to the Atlanta Velodrome is the Mike Walden Velodrome in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
This design for a steep 200M track is based on the Atlanta design. Very classic, weather restantant and exciting for fans. The driving force is the fellow behind the Walden Cycling school and I think Continental bike shop whose name escapes me.
This was a great community effort to build a world class riding surface for $500K. Go though the build shots on the website to see what was involved.
I say a surface because there is more to a velodrome than a surface. Lights, storage, grandstands etc. all add up.
If NYC wins the Olympics I'll bet $5M+ will be spent on the velodrome.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> >>The Atlanta Velodrome became the Bromont Velodrome in Quebec. Bromont
> purchased the track from Disney.<<
>
> Mr. Kurtz is correct. I worked for Walt Disney Entertainment at Walt
Disney
> World in the time period when Disney owned the Atlanta Velodrome. It was
> purchased, at Michael Eisner's suggestion, for the Wide World of Sports
> Complex. I was terrifically excited at the thought of having that track 2
> miles down the road from my office. The largely unused Brew track bike in
my
> basement is a reminder of my optimism :( Rumor has it that it was
assembled
> briefly at the facility, but only to check that all parts were there. It
was
> then disassembled and stored in a number of 40' trailers.
>
> Subsequent business analysis - which should have been done in advance, but
> Eisner's wild ideas at that time mandated immediate action - showed that,
> even in a sports facility that charged admission to the general public,
> incremental velodrome traffic wouldn't support the staff needed to man it
> during business hours. I tried the incremental hotel room traffic gambit
> based on its ability to attract major events, but was informed that we had
> virtually no incremental hotel room nights hotels available, especially in
> blocks sufficient to support large events and thus provide
> velodrome-specific revenue. In fact, velodrome managers from tracks across
> the country were incredibly supportive and offered to help ensure the
track
> would host significant events in its first years of operation, since the
> lure of a Disney World hosted and funded track was such a powerful idea
for
> US track cycling.
>
> Alas, no approach discussed had a sufficient internal ROI to justify the
> site work needed to permanently install the track and staff it, even with
> volunteer support. Its location at the remote Disney World site also meant
> it would be difficult to entice local kids to youth programs, especially
> at-risk kids. It was offered for sale for $400,000. If I'd won Lotto, it'd
> be in my back yard now!
>
> Sorry for the long-winded reply, but I was at Disney during this time,
doing
> everything I could possibly do to get the track permanently installed. No
> luck. I'm glad Bromont was able to buy it, and I hope it's well-supported
> and heavily used in that location.
>
> Bill Karow
> now in Windham, ME...but not because I'm bitter or anything :)