December 13, 2022
Provided image/Spillman Farmer Architects
Developers in Chester County hope to bring a permanent, indoor velodrome to Coatesville to serve as an Olympic and Paralympic cycling training center. The image above is a architectural rendering of what the interior facility would look like.
The development team behind an ambitious project to construct an indoor velodrome to host cycling races in Coatesville have received $9 million in state funding to support land development for the facility, which would be located next to the city's landmark High Bridge.
The Velodrome Foundation, one of the project's backers, recently announced that the National Sports and Events Center received its first funds to develop the 24-acre site. The project calls for a 245,000-square-foot venue with a 2,500-seat velodrome arena, in addition to other amenities including a trackside bistro, 12,000 square feet of retail space, virtual reality gaming and connected athletic spaces.
A velodrome is an oval arena that houses a wooden track with high, banked walls on which cyclists race fixed-gear bikes with no brakes. The ends of each oval typically have 45-degree embankments. The length of a track can range between 133 meters and 500 meters. For world championships and Olympic games, velodromes are 250 meters long.
The velodrome arena project, which has been in development for the last decade, could cost as much as $79 million to complete and would become the first permanent indoor velodrome in the eastern United States. It will be funded through public-private partnerships.
The goal would be for the facility to become an Olympic and Paralympic training center, conveniently located about 35 miles west of Philadelphia. The velodrome would surround a central space that could be used for concerts, conventions and other sporting events.
In addition to the cycling track, the proposal for the connected facility features an athlete performance center, multiple sport courts, a Boys and Girls Club, a family entertainment center and meeting rooms.
This architectural rendering shows the proposed National Sports and Events Center in Coatesville. It would contain a velodrome for indoor cycling races and supporters hope it would become cycling's national Olympic and Paralympic training center.
The project is led by International Development Group, a joint venture between New Heritage Properties and a team of other developers. New Heritage Properties is led by Crosby Wood, who co-owns the Midway Arches wedding and events venue on E. Chestnut Street in Coatesville.
Wood told The Hunt Magazine that the velodrome represents only a portion of the project and would account for less than 25% of revenue.
“I like to call the cycling piece the special sauce that takes a regional project and gives it international draw,” Wood said.
Other leading figures on the velodrome project include James Logan, the Coatesville city manager who helped secure state funding, and World Cycling Limited CEO David Chauner, a two-time Olympian and member of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame.
Coatesville is Chester County's only city, with a population of about 14,000. Since its industrial peak, the city has fallen behind economically over the last several decades. In recent years, Coatesville has gotten more attention and funding for revitalization in the downtown area, including the $65 million restoration of the city's train station that's expected to be completed in 2025.
The National Sports and Events Center could begin construction by late 2023, with a target for completion in 2025.
