OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — More than a year after voting to start the project, officials announced that the Oak Ridge Motorsports Park would change locations to another East Tennessee community on Tuesday.
The decision was made after city leaders received a notice from the U.S. Department of Energy which said that the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, or the motorsports park, would need to pay for an Environmental Impact Statement before construction began.
The additional testing could cost more than $7 million and take around 3-4 years to complete, officials said. They also would not have a guarantee that the project would be approved after completing the statement.
According to a release, the City of Oak Ridge and the DOE agreed to use the land for manufacturing and processing plants, research and development, warehousing facilities, public uses and offices in 2003. If the uses changed, the agreement said the ORIDB would be responsible for the costs.
A motorsports park was not explicitly noted as an acceptable use of the land, officials said.
“An East Tennessee motorsports park is a legacy project for me,” said Rusty Bittle, a founding partner of the motorsports park. "I prayed about it. It was a tough decision because the thousands of people that have supported the project and wanted it to be in Oak Ridge have become my friends."
The new locations under review for the park are "shovel ready," officials said. The communities have zoning policies in place to accommodate the motorsports park concept.
Officials said that the project could have generated $93 million in its first five years.
"I am excited about potential new locations and I think our supporters and motorsports enthusiasts from around the country will be too," Bittle said. "I look forward to sharing specific details very soon.”
Information about where the park could be relocated to was not immediately available.