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RegisterCitizen
Lime Rock continues growth with racer's country club
07/10/2007
By PETER WALLACE
Register Citizen Staff
LAKEVILLE - Skip Barber has a compromise for any long-suffering neighbors of his Lime Rock Park race track who wish they could have the peace and quiet of a golf course nearby instead.
Beginning in 2008, with the proper finances and connections, you can become a member of an ultra-exclusive racing club connected to the track.
Limited to 300 members, The Club at Lime Rock Park will eventually have a clubhouse, with many of the amenities of exclusive golf clubs. For now, though, Barber expects the appeal to center on the track itself. Members will have 60 dates reserved throughout the year for their driving use, with their own vehicles, subject to safety inspections.
"My biggest fear is that, if the business and finances of Lime Rock Park are not sufficiently strong, the value of this beautiful piece of property could exceed its value as a racetrack," said Barber, 70. "And that, when I am no longer around, a future owner will be tempted to convert it to a golf course...like what happened at Bridgehampton."
Barber expects The Club at Lime Rock Park to attack that threat from two directions. First, Barber and his successors will now have 300 influential "partners" with a vested interest in keeping the track healthy and up-to-date.
Second, that privilege will cost $100,000 per member, presenting instant capital for creating improvements such as track re-paving, an updated media center and the clubhouse itself.
For the initial investment, members will sign up for a 50-year term that can be passed down in the family or re-sold through the club.
This year, Barber has reserved four track dates to let qualified club applicants see what they're getting.
For those still holding out for a golf course, maybe it would help to think of this as a club in which members bring their own carts...really, really fast carts.
http://www.registercitizen.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18567611&BRD=1652&PAG=461&dept_id=464186&rfi=6
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