CLEVELAND -- Fast Track Cycling has signed a purchase contract with V-Worldwide, Inc. to bring a 166-meter steel and wood velodrome track to the Broadway Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland.
Groundbreaking scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 1.
The Cleveland-based non-profit expects the first shipments of steel to arrive the week of May 7 and assembly will occur over a several-week period.
The Cleveland velodrome track's grand opening is scheduled for June 16.
Fast Track will provide free coaching, Fast Track Cycling, Inc. free track time and free equipment rental for youth aged 18 and under, and affordable membership-based adult programming for recreational and competitive cyclists.
Fast Track announced its original plans in January 2010 to build a velodrome track at the site of the former St. Michael's Hospital in Broadway's Slavic Village.
Fast Track Cycling recently signed a ground lease agreement with the City of Cleveland for the 8.4 acre site for $1 per year.
The track will be constructed from galvanized steel and a marine-grade plywood riding surface. A $50,000 grant from The Cleveland Foundation helped Fast Track complete the Phase I capital requirement of $300,000, which includes the cost of track bicycles and other related equipment.
Fast Track is looking for volunteers during May and early June to help with landscaping, painting, track assembly and track programming.
"This velodrome is a welcome addition for cycling enthusiasts in the City of Cleveland," said Mayor Frank Jackson. "It will allow for people of all ages in the City to be exposed to the culture of the international sport of fast-track cycling and give them an additional form of physical activity to engage in."
The velodrome will complement the gymnastics programming at the adjacent Sokol Czech Cultural Center, the community's two new athletic fields, the First Tee Golf Course, and the Morgana Bike Trail.
The Velodrome is two blocks from the Downtown Trail that will connect Downtown Cleveland to the Towpath, which is in the planning stage.
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport that is featured in the Olympic Games and held on specially built banked velodromes.
The Slavic Village site is located southeast of the intersection of Pershing and Broadway avenues.
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