Salem sees raceway property as vehicle to speed development

By D.a. Wilkinson

SALEM — Mayor Jerry Wolford now sees the Quaker City Raceway as a potential economic development project.

Wolford recently said he had changed his perspective on the project after meeting with Greg DiDonato, the executive director of the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association based in Cambridge, Ohio. The agency offers economic help on projects.

The mayor wants to buy the approximately 170 acres in Green Township in Mahoning County, which would have to be annexed to Salem.

About 75 acres at the raceway at 10359 W. South Range Road is open for development. The rest is part of the track and other buildings.

City officials want the land because it’s the only way the city can get more space for a new industrial park. The city’s other two parks are full.

The purchase of the land at a cost of $1 million is far from complete, but it looks possible, the mayor said.

Wolford said he now looks as the raceway as the first company in the industrial park.

If the city can find or borrow money to buy the entire property, owner Dan Swindell has offered to lease the raceway, which has a full schedule of events up and running that will go through the summer.

That arrangement could bring in $100,000 a year to the city.