Speedway folk say they have at least four more years at NOS Events Center

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- The auto and dirt bike speedways that currently do business at the National Orange Show Events Center are expected to remain at the complex for the next four years.

The Events Center is expected to be the site of major new developments, based on recent announcements made by center management and Lewis Group of Companies, an Upland-based development firm.

The announcements came Tuesday and thus far, development plans are only conceptual. Bob Balzer, chairman of National Orange Show's board of directors, said Tuesday the future of racing at the events center depends on whether the marketplace can support speedways in the future.

Best in the West Racing, promoters of auto racing events at Orange Show Speedway, issued a statement Wednesday to announce the company still has four years left on its contract with the events center.

Allan Alvord of Inland Motorsport Speedway similarly said the dirt bike track is in the first year of a five-year contract. Alvord said business has been good at the speedway but he has yet to learn details about development plans for the Events Center.

Events Center general manager Dan Jimenez could not be reached for comment by Wednesday's deadline.

The center contains about 120 acres of land and is located in central San Bernardino, northwest of the restaurants and big box stores of the Hospitality Lane area and southeast of the government offices of downtown.

Supporters of the project -- slated to include a mix of light industrial, business and retail buildings -- hope that new development at the Events Center could strengthen the economies of both Hospitality Lane and downtown.

Randall Lewis, an executive vice president for Lewis Group, said Wednesday that the company was looking for business opportunities in San Bernardino and they were attracted to the events center because of its size and ability to pursue a long-term project at the location.

At present, development plans are only conceptual.

"It's so early in the economy," Lewis remarked Wednesday. "We think we're at the beginning of a recovery. We think we're at the beginning of planning this."