NASCAR Hall of Fame over Budget

Posted On: September 10, 2008 By: admin

There are so many new development projects for uptown it’s hard to keep up with them all. While some are pretty successful, some aren’t. Unfortunately the venture attracting the most attention this week is the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but I don’t think this is the attention it was looking for.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame is running 20 percent over the projected cost presented to the city in its original plans. Charlotte needs to come up with $32 million additional dollars to build the actual building. The building material will cost at least $11 million more than anticipated, and $30 million beyond that to make the museum better and more environmentally friendly. This would make the total cost of the NASCAR Hall of Fame $195 million dollars.

This announcement was a surprise to the Charlotte City Council members, who said they should have been informed of this sooner. In two weeks, the Charlotte City Council will be asked to approve a guaranteed a maximum price tag with the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s construction manager.

The project managers have promised that the taxpayers won’t have to pay the difference. They feel that private sponsors and the hotel-motel tax will cover the growing bill. According to WSOCTV.com, Assistant City Manager Jim Schumacher said, “There’s no property tax. No general fund taxes going to this project, it’s all from the 2 percent hotel tax.”

I think maybe some taxpayers are a bit skeptical.

Category: Third Ward