"Without getting into all of the whys and wherefores, please know that we, as a partnership group holding four equal 25% shares, did everything in our power these past six years to provide top-quality short-track racing and keep the doors open," says Timothy Shinn, managing member of the group. The other partners are Fred Archer, Joseph Sanzari and the Creamer family.
"We have made numerous attempts to create a scenario which would enable us to continue with the Speedway operation, all to no avail," Shinn says. "We did everything in our power to continue to heritage which was always associated with Wall Stadium. My partners and I are left with no alternative than to close."
The partners cited declining attendance and revenues and ongoing operating losses, but did not release figures. The group, all of which have ties to auto racing beyond owning this facility, acquired the property from the founding Nicol family in early 2002 for an undisclosed price. "We were wholly committed to its continuance as the top quality racing facility it had always been," Shinn says.
Since acquiring Wall Township Speedway, which for most of its existence was known simply as Wall Stadium, the four partners had renovated the one-third mile oval, its grandstand and concessions. Improvements included paving the put area and installing a one-fifth mile inner track.
The partners also declined to divulge their plans for the site, although speculation centers on a sale and redevelopment. In 2005, in fact, when news of the track's struggles surfaced, Walldon Pond LLC, a partnership of Sterling Properties of Livingston and MDK Development of Paramus, had an offer on the table to buy the property and turn it into 200 age-restricted townhouses and upwards of 100,000 sf of office and retail. That proposal fell through because of local opposition related to density issues.
Wall is the second short-track racing facility to shut down in recent years in the Garden State. A few years back, the Flemington Fairgrounds and Speedway in Flemington was shuttered, and is currently being redeveloped by Garden Commercial Properties of Short Hills as Raritan Town Square, a 520,000-sf mixed-use project.
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