RCJoh-@attglobal.net

Quite the wet blanket there Mike, but a good reality check. But with

your points in mind I'd still like to offer a few encouraging words.



Oregon is a land of firsts. The first state to protect public access to

beaches and waterways. The first to address widespread littering of

beverage containers with our bottle bill. The first to seriously attempt

solving the problem of seeing every citizen receives health care

coverage. The list goes on. Perhaps there is a way to make this idea

viable and in doing so accomplish another first. But it truly will be

impossible if everyone believes it is. How many would have thought that

raising 1.3 million dollars for cancer research with a single day bike

ride was impossible? But it happened.

There are many civic institutions that were born in red ink, and some

continue inspire of it. The Oregon Symphony covers just 41% of it's

operating costs through ticket sales. The rest comes from corporate and

individual sponsorship. There has been considerable effort invested at

both the city and state level in creating viable financial conditions

for bringing Major League Baseball to town. Those dreams survive because

there is a group of people that believe in them.

So, that's the question - are there enough people that believe in this

particular dream? Are they ready to sustain the years long effort to

keep it alive? Mike is correct, the financial reality is a tough issue

to overcome. Just thinking it's a good idea contributes little to

actually making it happen. But maybe there are enough people willing to

make this dream come alive. If so, I wish them luck.



Rick



mike.m-@obra.org wrote:



 I have been trying to keep quiet on this subject but find I can't. There

are several reasons why we don't have a indoor velodrome but the biggest one

is that there are no indoor velodromes in the world that actually cover

their operating expenses. In the US few outdoor velodromes cover expenses.

If anyone wants any more particulars, cost estimates, revenue projections,

etc. send me a note.





Mike Murray



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