4 years after Blaine velodrome closed, Richfield could get bike racetrack

Almost four years after the wooden cycling track in Blaine closed, pieces could be coming together for a racetrack in Richfield.

Richfield is working with the nonprofit Minnesota Cycling Center to figure out if a largely vacant area near Interstate 494 and Hwy. 77 might be the right place for a bicycle track, or velodrome. If the plan comes together — and that's a big if, since a portion of the land is privately owned, and the project will cost tens of millions of dollars — the Richfield track would be one of just four indoor cycling tracks in the United States and could draw regional, national and international competitions.

Minnesota Cycling Center President Jason Lardy said finding the site feels like a strong start, even if the road ahead will be tough.

"It's really gratifying to have community support like we've seen in Richfield," Lardy said.

Lardy's group rose as the Blaine track, which was part of the National Sports Center, fell into disrepair about a decade ago. The track closed at the end of summer 2019, and was torn down in 2020.

Barclay Kruse, former spokesman for the National Sports Center who administered the Blaine track when it opened, said the velodrome was a copy of the one used during the 1992 Olympics — a 250-meter wood track with steeply banked turns.

It was a fast, high-performance outdoor track that hosted Olympic trials that year, Kruse said, but there were challenges. The track was difficult for beginners to ride, while major competitions have come to favor indoor tracks. And after almost three decades of Minnesota winters, the wooden track was worn out.

Former racer Anna Schwinn mourned the loss of the community that grew up around the track. She remembered it as a place where people gathered to "get strong together."

"That wasn't just physical speed or strength, or that athletic quality of strength," she said. "You're watching people grow up in front of you."

Making a match

The search for a new velodrome site has taken years, Lardy said. A possible site in northeast Minneapolis fell through before the pandemic, even after the Minnesota Cycling Center received $250,000 from the 2015 state bonding bill to cover preliminary design work.

"We've been looking for a location with varying degrees of success, but haven't found the right location, with the right community support," Lardy said.

Enter Richfield. The city has been working to become more bike-friendly, steadily building up bike lanes for the past 10 years. The city and the Three Rivers Park District are also working on a "bike playground" for off-road biking, set to open this fall.

And Richfield has been scouting for a major development for city-owned land at the junction of I-494 and Hwy. 77, left over from building a tunnel under the highway. City leaders wanted to see something big that would draw people from outside Richfield while also serving the city, Richfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority Director Melissa Poehlman said. The velodrome proposal seems like it could fit the bill.

The center is going to need support, Lardy said. Building the cycling complex could cost $40 million to $50 million, with some funds potentially coming from the Legislature or other public sources.

Richfield may consider some funding for the track, Poehlman said, especially if the complex includes amenities useful to people who aren't that interested in bikes.

High-level cycling would be part of the program, but Lardy said he also hopes the track will accommodate beginners and children learning to ride and race. The science-of-bikes program the cycling center runs with Minneapolis schools — and is expanding to St. Paul this fall — could also grow with a permanent home. Lardy said he hopes the velodrome will fit courts for other sports, like basketball or pickleball, and space for concerts or other performances.

Richfield owns two of three parcels that could become the velodrome site, with the third owned privately. The next step will be for the council and redevelopment authority to approve resolutions of support for selling the land, and asking for support from the Legislature.

The cycling center will have to start negotiating with the family trust that owns the middle of the three parcels, Lardy said. If unable to secure the site, the Minnesota Cycling Center would have to embark on a major fundraising campaign for design work and construction.

Schwinn, the former racer, is excited about the idea of a track that would be easier to get to than the one in Blaine — and about a place dedicated to bike racing, rather than something that felt barely tolerated by a larger sports complex.

"We can make it what we want it to be, not what we can kind of get away with," she said.

It's early, but Lardy said he's optimistic to have gotten a good reception from Richfield leaders after years of setbacks and uncertainty.

"Now we've got to roll up our sleeves," he said, "and do some really hard work."