NEAR OLIVER – It’s not often a race track is built in Canada but it’s happening in the south Okanagan.
Paving is underway on a five kilometre, twisting ribbon of asphalt for people who like to drive fast, whether in a street-legal sports car or a full-blown race car.
Area 27 is the name of a private members motor sport facility under construction on the outskirts of Oliver.
“We’re talking about putting amateur drivers on here, not to learn to drive race cars, but to do performance driving,” says project co-founder Trevor Seibert. “To take their car and learn to drive it in an elevated way,”
It costs up to $40,000 dollars to join the club with annual dues of about $3500.
Seibert says membership sales are more than anticipated.
“There’s hundreds of members coming from all over the place. We’ve had people fly up from Texas and California to have a look. People are inquiring even from Europe about what we’re doing here.”
Seibert says millions of dollars have been spent just to get the track laid down.
That includes some 22,000 tons of asphalt or about 1500 dump truck loads.
“The next things to come are the garages, administration buildings and clubhouse. It could easily be north of $30 million before it’s anything we’d call complete.”
The paving should be completed by next week and then the fun begins.
“We are only a couple weeks away from turning cars loose on this place, very exciting time.”
The race track is being built on native land under a 99 year lease with the Osoyoos Indian Band.
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