FLCC> Improving Ithaca's winter cycling

[Brian Lawney]

In short, we want a velodrome in Ithaca.

Note:  This is NOT a joke.  We (the interested parties) are actually
serious about proposing this project to the City of Ithaca.  We have
received a lot of skepticism and laughs, but we feel this is a worthwhile
idea that should be heard.  Feel free to laugh at this yourself, but also
give it some careful consideration.  Beyond simply getting the idea out
there, we're looking for any criticism/support/ideas from the
cycling community.

>The idea:
An indoor velodrome/recreation center.  A 250m regulation wooden track
surrounding a multi-use sports facility (indoor soccer / lacrosse /
basketball / volleyball / etc).  Think Cornell's Barton Hall with a banked
track instead of a running track.  Certainly not on the large scale as
Barton, however.  Enclosed in an inflatable sports dome, or perhaps a more
"robust" installation like the skating rink in Cass Park.

As an idea of other indoor velodromes- Manchester and Newport,
respectively:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/features/2003/track/tracks/manchester_ex_01.jpg
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/features/2003/track/tracks/newport_ex_00.jpg
(Note:  Manchester just hosted the world championships, so it's quite
elaborate and certainly more than we had in mind)


>The benefit:
A place for the Ithaca community (especially cyclists) to recreate in the
winter (and other) months that is independent of CU/IC.  We realize there
are the existing facilities in Cass Park, but this would largely provide
services/activities not currently available.  Also, only the second indoor
velodrome in the United States (the other is in Los Angeles).  Talk about
dominance in the market!  We're certain this would draw some serious
attention from cyclists all over the northeast.

>Additional considerations:
1.  In its ideal realization, we'd like to have a "green" facility-
perhaps through the use of ambient solar lighting, photovoltaic cells,
passive solar space/water heating, geothermal heat pumps...whatever is
deemed the most efficient use of resources for its location.

2.  We originally conceived (last year) that we could locate the project
on the Gun Hill site as part of usable space reclamation, but it seems
that the location has since seen other plans for development.  However, in
light of the perceived opposition to the apartment complexes, could this
be something the city would be more in favor of?

3.  Perhaps we could garner help from the Cornell/IC community by selling
it as an interdisciplinary "real world" project.  It could essentially be
like the Formula SAE or any of the other engineering project teams,
provided there's any interest from the students/faculty.  (E.g. have
Environmental engineering students perform the detailed green energy
analysis, civil engineering/architecture students design the
building/aesthetics/space usage, have business students perform
operational cost analysis...you get the idea.)

Is anyone out there familiar with the kind of things the City would look
for in terms of a proposal?  We're appealing to the wisdom and expertise
of those who have been involved in similar endeavors or know anything at
all about the process.  Specifically, are they looking for the bottom line
in terms of construction, operating costs, etc.  We didn't want to get too
involved in the details if this idea would be rejected outright,
regardless of financial projections.

Thoughts, ideas? (beyond "You guys are nuts..."  although I know we'd
enjoy any sort of response to this)

Thanks for reading,
Ithaca Velodrome Investigation Committee
(aka Brian, Steve, Jake)