Bicyclists from far and wide may soon be heading to Summerville.
The city will host a meeting today at 7 p.m. at the Chattooga County Civic Center in support of building a National Bicycle League (NBL) BMX track.
Dan Little hopes the presentation will go well. He’s helping get the word out about the meeting and about the benefits of Summerville having a BMX track.
“There’s not another NBL track for many, many miles,” Little said. “This would fill a blank spot on the map, as far as BMX tracks go. It would be a big boost for the economy.”
Little is helping longtime friend Chris Noles. Both were BMX racers in the 1980s and they hope the children in Summerville and the surrounding area will be able to benefit from having the track so close.
Noles has worked with the NBL before and has helped set up two tracks in West Virginia. The NBL was looking for a spot in Northwest Georgia to build a track.
“There’s a very choice piece of land that’s very accessible,” Little said. “We (him and Noles) happened to run by this piece of land that was already owned by the county. I just think it would be good for the community.”
The only tracks in Georgia right now are located in Augusta, Albany, Columbus, McDonough, Hampton and Peechtree City, Little said.
Donna Smith of the NBL will give the presentation at the meeting. She’s the NBL’s senior field director and is in charge of new track development.
Little said the cost to build the track would be fairly low since the land is already available and the labor would be free, provided through a local rehabilitation program.
He also said the money brought in from having the track would far outweigh what would be paid to build it.
“Revenue from the track could bring as much as $600,000 and $800,000 for a regional race over one weekend,” Little said. “A national race could bring $2.5 million.”
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