Penrose Park Bike Velodrome

Mark Groth · PostJan 21, 2012#12012-01-21T16:44+00:00

There is a documentary film being made about the Penrose Park Bicycle Velodrome. The filmmaker is seeking information/on camera commentary about the neighborhood and how the track and track racing fits into the neighborhood's history.

If you fit the bill, contact info is here:

Brent Jaimes
Storyville Pictures, LLC
BRENTJAIMES@aol.com

If you'd like to find our more about the doc you can check out the campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com. Search for, "Ride Hard, Turn Left: The Penrose Velodrome".

chaifetz10 · PostMay 02, 2013#22013-05-02T13:20+00:00

Nice write up in the Post Dispatch. It's great to see the Velodrome getting much needed and deserved attention!

The fact that very few people even know it exists is a major eye opener. A little bit of sprucing up, maybe some more trees to block the highway noise, and this place could be a decent attraction!

rawest1 · PostMay 02, 2013#32013-05-02T13:40+00:00

Awesome!

shadrach · PostMay 02, 2013#42013-05-02T14:20+00:00

side note—

When I would visit home from college I would often drive around, get lost and basically explore the city (West county kid having never anything of the city except Busch Stadium.) One day on my journeys, I came across the this. I was like 'what in the world is that? Flying saucer landing pad? I turned around, pulled over and walked around it. I was dumbfounded. Weedy, broken up, neglected. I deducted it was for bikes thanks to watching the Olympics. It made me sad and thought it was cool at the same time. I think that's when my love for our 'city lost' started.

I'm glad to hear about this.

Alex Ihnen · PostMay 02, 2013#52013-05-02T15:29+00:00

I'm torn. I love that this track is tucked away in north city and that there's an effort to preserve and resurface it. However...a velodrome in Forest Park would simply KILL! KILL. Thousands of people could be introduced to the sport. Competitions could draw crowds. It. Would. Be. Amazing.

chaifetz10 · PostMay 02, 2013#62013-05-02T15:33+00:00

^Agreed. I see this as an important stepping stone to that. If interest picks up enough at Penrose Park then there would be a larger argument for a need for a second velodrome. City leaders will be more likely to approve financing a new, modern facility in Forest Park if they can see with their own eyes the increasing interest and potential.

Alex Ihnen · PostMay 02, 2013#72013-05-02T15:40+00:00

I just hope that a couple hundred thousand isn't dropped on Penrose, leading people to not want/see the need for a new track. No way the city supports two of them. There was recently a proposal for a velodrome in Brooklyn that recently fell through. It was envisioned an an indoor track that could host volleyball tournaments and other events as well. A philanthropist pledged $50M for the project, but it recently fell through. Among the issues, people were complaining about the increased traffic the center could bring and the fact that indoor cycling is obscure. Yeah, try to figure that out! There would be too much traffic and no one knows what track cycling is anyway! ?!?! Anyway, a simple outdoor track (like this:http://www.brooklynvelodrome.com/) could be built for $10M or less.

chaifetz10 · PostMay 02, 2013#82013-05-02T16:33+00:00

^That would be very sexy in Forest Park! I'm hoping that the Penrose Park just get's a nice sprucing up and maybe a quick resurfacing. Not more than a hundred thousand... but enough to get people engaged. How much would asphalt repair cost? Surely some patch work would be better than repaving the entire track if a long term new track can be presented.

roger wyoming II · PostMay 02, 2013#92013-05-02T18:01+00:00

Alex Ihnen wrote:I'm torn. I love that this track is tucked away in north city and that there's an effort to preserve and resurface it. However...a velodrome in Forest Park would simply KILL! KILL. Thousands of people could be introduced to the sport. Competitions could draw crowds. It. Would. Be. Amazing.

While we're at it, let's buy out The Little 500 and move it here! In all seriousness though, the odds that another attraction requiring any kind of significant space getting built in Forest Park is extremely low.

Alex Ihnen · PostMay 02, 2013#102013-05-02T18:08+00:00

^ It's will be low until there's funding. That may never happen, but if someone where to put together a plan and the cash to back it, the idea would at least get a good hearing.

roger wyoming II · PostMay 02, 2013#112013-05-02T18:16+00:00

^ trying to think what was last attraction carved out of existing park space.... Planetarium? (Museum expansions were w/in those institutions existing boundaries.)

Alex Ihnen · PostMay 02, 2013#122013-05-02T18:31+00:00

^ The golf course was expanded significantly a while back and then a running/public path was removed recently for AAA golf course renovation. Perhaps the Visitor Center playground?

mill204 · PostMay 02, 2013#132013-05-02T18:38+00:00

^ I would argue that the golf course takes up less space than it used to prior to the park renovations. The removal of a winding street next to Lindell allowed the golf course to pack more holes into the area north of Lagoon Dr, holes that once used to encircle the Grand Basin.

roger wyoming II · PostMay 02, 2013#142013-05-02T18:47+00:00

mill204 wrote:^ I would argue that the golf course takes up less space than it used to prior to the park renovations. The removal of a winding street next to Lindell allowed the golf course to pack more holes into the area north of Lagoon Dr, holes that once used to encircle the Grand Basin.

I know more holes were added but don't know of overall impacts on acreage. How bout Dwight Davis Tennis Center as candidate for most recent sizeable attraction (children's playground at VC doesn't take up much space)? How old is that? How many acres would a quality velodrome take?

Alex Ihnen · PostMay 02, 2013#152013-05-02T19:15+00:00

The Major Taylor Velodrome in Indy placed in Forest Park - taking advantage of existing parking and the hillside.

or

or wherever - point is it could fit a number of places.

ward24 · PostMay 03, 2013#162013-05-03T18:56+00:00

Can't argue that Forest Park wouldn't be a good place for a velodrome. However, its not in the Master Plan, and therefore, even if added to the Master Plan, would be on the very bottom of funding priorities, meaning it could be a decade away or more.

The bond issue that was passed in 2011 has the velodrome as a line item. Meaning if those bonds are ever actually sold (they have not started that process yet, another story) then we should be able to pay for most of a new, durable, smooth, concrete velodrome surface (which will run about $600,000) with the bond issue. Moving the velodrome will substantially increase costs.

As I see it, the only real chance for a quality velodrome paid for by the City is in Penrose. Penrose can be a good facility. If someone wants to privately fund a separate project I'm all ears, but so far that hasn't happened.

If you want to help the funding effort, we're taking contributions to cover any funding gap and prove to the City that the cycling community is serious about helping make this happen. You can help here: http://penroseparkvelo.com/support-the- ... -donation/

Scott Ogilvie
24th Ward Alderman

south compton · PostMay 06, 2013#172013-05-06T16:38+00:00

Alex Ihnen wrote:^ It's will be low until there's funding. That may never happen, but if someone where to put together a plan and the cash to back it, the idea would at least get a good hearing.

Do you know who likes cycling, has wads of cash and might be looking for a high-profile civic project to one-up his former business partner?

http://gatewaycup.com/learn/michael-staenberg/

Seems like a perfect fit. Anyone have his cell phone number?

Mark Groth · PostJul 07, 2015#182015-07-07T02:28+00:00

From the Penrose Park Velodrome FB page:

At long last, we can announce the City of St. Louis has signed a contract and issued a notice to proceed to Arcturis, whose teams includes Burns & McDonnell Engineering, to do a site analysis, design, and cost estimate for a new facility in Penrose Park. This is basically phase I, around $100,000 in pre-construction work to figure out exactly what can be built on site, design it, and determine what it will cost. This has been a long time coming and represents the first real financial commitment the City of St. Louis has made to the track in a long time. Arcturis is ready to get the work started, but I've given up on providing exact timelines on City projects. Suffice to say, its happening soon and the timeline Arcturis provided is relatively short, with the goal to complete everything in 2015. This is NOT a contract to build a new velodrome, but a contract to take us up to the point where it could be done, depending on the cost and money available. Arcturis was the winning firm that submitted a proposal to the RFQ that the City issued last fall. This is a big step forward for our relationship with the City, and of course it would not have been possible without the countless hours of time and individual investments all of us have made over the last 4 years. At some point Arturis should reach out to us to gather some info. Until then, high fives.

https://www.facebook.com/PenroseParkVel ... 47?fref=nf

mjbais1489 · PostMay 03, 2019#192019-05-03T16:59+00:00

It appears this resurface is finally complete per Instagram (@penroseparkvelo)

walker · PostMay 03, 2019#202019-05-03T17:40+00:00

It is. They had a "Velodrome racing for beginners" training session the other eveing.

Ebsy · PostMay 05, 2019#212019-05-05T03:16+00:00

Great! One of North City's true gems.

sc4mayor · PostJun 18, 2021#222021-06-18T19:26+00:00

I hadn’t realized this had been resurfaced, had heard about some efforts in the past but didn’t know it had been competed.

I just saw some videos of bikers using it on the City’s Facebook page…it looks fantastic!