Important notice concerning Crowder College Solo site

[JimR]

All Solo events on the Crowder College driving school pad are suspended indefinitely. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracted with the college to use the lot as a long-term construction equipment storage area for the next several years as part of the Joplin rebuilding effort.

Ozark Mountain Region SCCA is exploring alternative sites for the June 26th, 2011, charity Solo and all future autocross events. Other lots on the Crowder College property are under consideration.

Our friends who manage and staff the Crowder Trucking School did not have a final say in the matter. Effective immediately, all activities on the site are suspended: truck training, teen accident avoidance, motorcycle training, autocross, and other vehicle testing and education. OMRSCCA had a model relationship with the school staff, and appreciates their help in hosting a vibrant period in the region's Solo program, including three Midwest Division SCCA Solo series events.

Site History
The Crowder driving pad is a rather expensive piece of pavement, including a concrete slickpad designed to be evenly wetted by a pumping station and drained into an adjacent holding pond. The asphalt was also laid to a depth to support 18-wheeler use. A control tower with video and radar, and a classroom building with restroom are also on the site.

Given that Crowder College is built on a huge ex-WWII military base with miles of unused roads and leveled ground, it's baffling that FEMA chose to occupy such a specialized driving pad with only contruction equipment and materials. The existing fence that rings the site is likely the primary motivation - it saved FEMA the trouble of errecting a security fence.

FEMA Profile
FEMA is a large, deeply funded federal agency capable of paying handsome rent money to contracted storage locations for extended periods of time. For example, FEMA paid the city of Hope, Arkansas, $25,000 monthly for a period of roughly five years to house a reserve of Hurricane Katrina camper trailers and mobile homes. FEMA use of the Crowder driving pad is expected to be a long-term engagement, as well.

Stay tuned to OMRSCCA.org and the OMRSCCA online forums for updates and more information.

[Bullitt2954]

Heh, if it wasn't so Ridiculous, it'd be Hilarious. Same thing happened to the Corvette Club on the Downstream Casino lot.....

Almost sounds a bit "fishy" - what with a US GUVMINT Army-typee Base right next door, fenced, with about 6x the available cleared space (that already has Construction Equipment being stored on it as I type this)

[SilverYota]

Just so everyone knows we are unsure just how long and to what extent the skidpad lot will be unavailable (talking with representatives from Crowder it sounds like the details are still being worked out at this time) but like our mothers told us "I wouldn't hold your breath". Like Jim said we are looking at alternate lots, and I have put up registration for the June 26th event assuming that we will be using another lot on the Crowder Campus. All updates/alternate lot info will be sent out in an email to everyone that pre-registers.

[JimR]

Don't abandon hope just yet. It looks like we will likely have a new alternate lot at Crowder to use beginning for the July 10th event, just not the one we know and love.

The trucking school just paved a new lot measuring roughly 250 x 500 feet, or a quarter of the old trucking pad. It's the empty, formerly gravel lot across the street most of you remember.

Though smaller, it's also completely free of obstructions or breakups. Circumstances handed us a raw deal, but look at it this way: a new site is better than NO site.

We're still looking at an alternative lot for June 26th while the Crowder lot cures, and hope to have a yes/no within a day or two.