POTTSTOWN -- While attracting businesses and jobs to the area is a challenge for Pottstown and many of its neighboring municipalities, Lower Providence has found a way to be proactive.
The township may soon become the site for the first indoor cycling track on the East Coast and the second facility of that type in the nation, according to Joseph C. Dunbar, Lower Providence township manager, who addressed the membership of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast meeting Thursday.
The Lower Providence Velodrome and Events Center is planned on 14 acres at an EPA brownfields site at 950 Rittenhouse Road -- a former semi-conductor plant -- that has been vacant for more than a decade.
The project, which will cost in the neighborhood of $60 million to build, will create 100 full and part-time jobs, will attract 50,000 visitors yearly and is expected to generate $25 million to $35 million per year in economic benefits for the township, Dunbar said.
It will take about a year to construct, he said.
With easy access to Route 422 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, "all the market studies pinpoint this to be a very successful location," Dunbar said. "We expect closing in mid-April."
Key principals in the project are American Management Group LLC, a private investment partnership, and Velodrome Management Group LLC of Norristown, which will develop and operate the site.
The planned 250-meter track will have seating for 2,500 and could be used for many types of events in addition to being a "center for cycling and its Olympic disciplines," Dunbar said.
The multipurpose facility could host events including boxing matches, soccer games and concerts, according to Dunbar.
"We would like to tie it in with a hotel," he said, noting the year-round arena could host weekly racing events, youth programs and international exchanges with a cycling center in Belgium. "Visitors will come in and stay for a long weekend, and will visit other places in the area such as Valley Forge Park. There are many opportunities for surrounding municipalities. The opportunities, once you think about it, are endless."
Lower Providence had been "kind of complacent" with business development in the past, but township government decided "we wanted to try to promote ourselves a little bit," which is how this project got started, according to Dunbar.
"The Velodrome will allow our township to generate more money via the amusement tax," he said. "We’re very excited about it. We’re already seeing that it’s bearing fruit."
The steeply banked wooden track will host high-level national and international competitions.
"You must ride at a constant speed of 18 mph or else you fall over," Dunbar joked.
The only similar indoor facility in the U.S. is the ADT Velodrome in Carson, Calif. Notably, the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown is one of 22 outdoor tracks in the nation.
Southeastern Pennsylvania is a "hotbed for the sport" of cycling, according to Dunbar.
Plans are in place to connect the facility to the nearby Schuylkill River Trail and Perkiomen Trail bike paths, he said.