On a blistering hot July 12 the Wiscasset Raceway was auctioned off to a couple from Kingfield. Richard and Vanessa Jordan came to the raceway intending to spend no more $35,000, but wound up buying the property for $130,000.
The Jordan’s winning bid is nearly one quarter of the property’s outstanding loan of $500,000. The couple were one of six registered bidders vying for the property in front of a crowd of about 40 people.
The couple intend to keep it a racetrack, and to have it be “a fun family place,” said Vanessa Jordan.
Once the auction started, shortly after 1 p.m., bidding stalled at $115,000. After a brief break for a discussion with his team, auctioneer Stef Keenan, of Keenan Auction Company announced, “Someone will go home today as the owner of this racetrack.”
When the Jordans won it for $130,000, they were surprised. “I was expecting someone with deeper pockets to get the property,” Richard Jordan said.
With their purchase, the Jordans took on two issues surrounding the racetrack; back taxes of approximately $45,000, and environmental concerns detailed in two reports; one by the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection and one by MAI Environmental. The reports detail partially-buried debris and barrels dumped behind the racetrack over a period of several decades.
According to the MAI Environmental report dated April l2 and posted on Keenan Auction’s website (www.keenanauction.com), the historical aerial images of the property show disturbed ground areas towards the “pit” areas north and west of the racetrack. The report cites oil drums and possible leakage into a nearby stream and a possible contamination of neighboring wells as concerns.
William Butler, a representative in the DEP’s department of Remediation and Waste Management, said the Jordans will be required to submit a corrective action plan to the DEP for review. Soil sampling will be necessary, to see what pollutants might be present.
Richard Jordan said people will work together to see the job accomplished. “With Yankee ingenuity we’ll get the [dumped material] cleaned up. I hope the town can work with us on the taxes,” he said.
Laurie Smith and Misty Gorski, Wiscasset’s town manager and town planner attended the auction and met informally with Richard Jordan immediately afterwards.
“I was pleased to see the wide interest in the property that was evident due to the crowd that was present at the auction,” Smith said. “We are excited to see a new owner with the desire and positive energy of Mr. Jordan and his commitment to invest in our community. We look forward to working with Mr. Jordan and to assisting him with future success in the Town of Wiscasset.”
Keenan said he was pleased with the auction’s result. “As you look at the history of the track, it was primarily owned by local Maine owners,” he said. “All the bidders understood the history of the track, and some, Richard Jordan included, had raced on the track.
“People from out of state were probably turned off by some of the environmental concerns. Mr. Jordan is a perfect buyer for this property and a good customer. He has the resources and ability to take care of this track, operate it.”
Richard Jordan owns a hardware, construction and building supply company, and an excavation company, Jordan Excavation, in Kingfield with his brothers Jonathan and Leslie. Jordan’s parents, Everett and Evangeline Jordan, lived in Newcastle.
“I was happy to see the number of people at the auction who came to support the racetrack, by offering to help come up on weekends, to get things cleaned up around there,” Keenan said. “I enjoyed the spirit of it all. It was interesting to see that.”
The property consists of a 35-acre parcel, a grandstand with a seating capacity of 6000, and a 3/8-mile high-banked oval track, and a rental home.
Wilford Cronk of Wiscasset built the Wiscasset Speedway (as it was originally called) in 1968 and opened the track in 1969. He owned it for 22 years.
Dave and Sandra St. Clair owned the track from 1991 to 2007, changing the name to Wiscasset Raceway. Doug and Becky White and family purchased the track in 2007, according to the Wiscasset Raceway’s website.
