Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Bring Back Manzanita

Does anyone else fondly remember the sounds of Manazinta Speedway on a Friday night? How about the sounds of cash registers clanging with every ticket sold and every supporting business transaction that was associated with it?

I attended the planPHX meeting at Cesar Chavez Library tonight, where I was thrilled to hear Phil Hertel's suggestion that we should bring back Manzanita Speedway. Phil owns an auto recycling business on Broadway, specializing in classic Buicks (http://www.speedwayautomotive.com/), so he knows something about this business. Apparently there's a real lack of auto racing in the Valley right now, and that means pent up demand.

I know very little about the auto industry, but couldn't agree more with Phil. Even I have driven along Broadway on a Saturday morning in the past and gawked at the crowds. My first thought was that this looks like something really cool, something cool that most of us totally fail to notice! But here's this opportunity and a thriving culture staring right at us.... Why not make something more of it?!

So that's why I've submitted the following plans to the city. Please support them:
"Car Culture" 
"Car Culture, Part II -- Del Rio Brown Fields"

More info about the Del Rio Brown Fields Project here: http://phoenix.gov/greenphoenix/land/brownfields/delrio/index.html

Update: Thanks to Steven Klein for a link to Arcadia Publishing's book about Manzy: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9780738585178/The-Historic-Manzanita-Speedway-in-Phoenix

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