Daytona’s HOF bid may be in trouble

Political trouble has the city's drive to bring the NASCAR hall of fame to Daytona Beach sputtering like a car with engine trouble. City Manager Jim Chisholm told city commissioners in an e-mail Thursday he would suspend the city's campaign. And though he later backed off making that announcement, the city's caution flags have state lawmakers rethinking their commitment to the project. The trouble started Wednesday when commissioners voted 6-1 to support building the hall of fame but wouldn't discuss putting up $20,000 to help pay an estimated $200,000 cost to develop a proposal. Local lawmakers were seeking $75 million in state funding to build the hall of fame. They fear Wednesday's commission action will make it even harder to sell the project to the Legislature.

With the Florida Marlins and Orlando Magic also looking for help with stadium projects, some lawmakers, including Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, have said they are reluctant to spend tax dollars on sports projects. To make the NASCAR project more palatable, King, Patterson and Daytona Beach lobbyist Sam Bell said Thursday they have revamped — and scaled back — their proposal for state funding. Initially, Daytona officials requested that the state commit $75 million over 25 years to help pay for building the hall of fame. Money would come from state sales taxes generated by the hall of fame. A revamped proposal seeks $30 million over 25 years. Also, it calls for creating a NASCAR-themed license tag, with proceeds from the sale of the tag going to the state to pay back the $30 million. Bell, a former Volusia County lawmaker, said the hall of fame initially was expected to cost about $75 million, but that estimate has been reduced to about $60 million. He said the state money would make up half of that amount, with the rest coming from sources such as sponsorships and land donations by the city and county. NASCAR set a May 31 deadline for proposals from areas including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Kansas City, Kan., Richmond, Va., Talladega, Ala., and the state of Michigan. in part from the Daytona Beach News Journal