reports progress
made on idea for
facility in Linden
Plan for auto track drives
former Marlboro mayor
Mort Salkind
reports progress
made on idea for
facility in Linden
By dick metzgar
Staff Writer
If Mort Salkind, a former mayor of Marlboro, has his way, the Union County city of Linden will have an automobile racing facility in operation by April 2007 in an elaborate brand-new center. It is Salkind’s hope to attract a major NASCAR race to the metropolitan area.
The concept for Salkind’s proposal for the racetrack — to be constructed by Liberty Speedway Inc. and initially have a 100,000-seat grandstand — was approved by the Linden Planning Board on May 13.
"I am very happy that we got that approval from Linden’s Planning Board," said Salkind, 71, who now resides in Rocka-way, Morris County. "It’s a major step forward, but there is much more to be done."
There are still approvals at both the municipal and state levels that must be obtained, he said.
Salkind, who deals in real estate and is a builder and developer, outlined a schedule that is ambitious, but practical for the construction of the auto racing stadium and related facilities. The project would also include a 20-story hotel and conference center, and a 400,000-square-foot entertainment center, Salkind said. He said the raceway grandstand would have the potential to be increased to 140,000 seats.
"We hope to have all of the necessary municipal approvals by the end of the summer," Salkind said. "It would then take about six months to complete the state approval work. If everything goes as planned, we would be ready to begin construction by April 2004. We would be ready to operate by April 2007."
Salkind originally submitted a similar plan last fall for the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, but that has been rejected, he said, and the developer, who was the mayor of Marlboro in the early 1970s, said he believes Linden will be an even better location for the proposed raceway.
New York City, which would provide a large market for the speedway, is less than a 30-minute drive from Linden, a city with a population of approximately 40,000 people, according to Linden Mayor John T. Gregorio.
Salkind said an extension to Exit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike would be critical for the operation of such a raceway, since the projection would be for at least 35,000 cars flooding into the area for a NASCAR race event.
"The Exit 12 connection would handle 90 percent of the traffic coming into the raceway," Salkind said. "The extension would see to it that raceway traffic would never touch Linden streets. We have to protect the people by seeing to it that there are no local traffic problems caused by the holding of raceway events."
The 143-acre site where the facility is being proposed is currently occupied by heavy industry, said Gregorio, the city’s mayor for the last 31 years.
Originally, the cost of the project was $401 million, according to Salkind.
"That cost has now risen to $450 million and could increase to half a billion dollars before we are finished," he said.
Gregorio said the facility would be a big boon for the economy of his city.
"It’s a very exciting proposal," the mayor said. "It would mean a lot of money to my city and would be a big boost to the economy in this entire area of New Jersey. Linden is only 20 minutes from New York and the raceway should draw heavily from New York."
The two nearest facilities where major NASCAR races are presently held are in Long Pond, Pa., and Dover, Del.
"With this facility so close to New York, Mr. Salkind should not have any problem attracting choice NASCAR dates," Gregorio said.
Salkind said there has been a large need for NASCAR to draw from the New York market.
"One of our goals will be to secure NASCAR Winston Cup Series dates," Salkind said. "We will have a 1-mile track and this raceway will be the best in the state. We think this would be the perfect location to hold NASCAR races. This facility will be the garden spot of the Garden State. This project will be my last hurrah."