Knoxville Zoo?

gbwrx · Post by **gbwrx** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:29 pm

So, I was at the Zoo the other day and saw that they had a pretty nice sized lot that was in some dire need of some pylons. I came home and found this....... http://www.etrscca.org/sccaforum/viewto ... hlight=zoo ........Obviously nothing came of it as we aren't using it. But I was just curious as to what had happened? Is it because they are open on Sunday or possibly something else?

It was a real nice lot though. Right near the duck pond there at the bottom.

Post by **disneyd** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:19 pm

Apparently the high chief commander of the zoo hates us for some unknown reason... once we were told that we would be too loud, but apparently the interstate and the tractor pulls they have there during the fair don't bother the critters any.

gbwrx · Post by **gbwrx** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:09 pm

No kidding....that is pretty lame!

It still looked like a good lot. I had a friend that worked up there awhile ago. I will try to contact them and see if they know of anyone to contact there. Probably not but worth a try.

NateC · Post by **NateC** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:49 pm

a friend of mine works at the zoo and i tagged along today after school. that lot looks heavenly! my friend said he would definetly talk to some people as they had the nopi event there and that wasnt a problem?

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:58 pm

Uhh, yeah. They had drifters there but we would be too annoying.

Dentspeed · Post by **Dentspeed** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:03 pm

They also had a car stereo contest to see which was the loudest.

NateC · Post by **NateC** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:38 am

then wtf is wrong with an autocross? keep the DB levels below 100?

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:45 am

NateC wrote:then wtf is wrong with an autocross? keep the DB levels below 100?

Actually 96.

NateC · Post by **NateC** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:34 pm

oh, 96. im going to try and talk to them about the lot. im 16, i have a magic mouth.

Dentspeed · Post by **Dentspeed** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:13 pm

Burnouts and loud stereos....good grief. Yeah, we autoxer's are quite the rowdy bunch.

bikerecker · Post by **bikerecker** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:43 pm

We tried to hold a weekday bicycle race series there a few years ago.
The Zoo and Chilhowee Park are not one and the same. The big parking lots on both sides of the pond belong to Chilhowee park, not the Zoo.
Issues:
Insurance requirement: $2M coverage was required, bike racing sanctioning body only had $1M at the time, this killed the deal (found out later that $1M in supplementary insurance was fairly cheap)
Schedule: They have quite a few events there in the Summer, so we had to plan around Honda Hoot, Street Rod Nats, etc
Price: Chilhowee is a "profit center" for the city, they actually make money that goes into the city's coffers. We came up aith a $5/rider surcharge to cover this.
Schedule: The Zoo has its own dedicated parking, but uses the Chilhowee lot for overflow. THis would need to be considered on weekends when the Zoo is busiest.

Having negotiated with the management of the Park over the space of weeks, I think they would be amenable to an autocross there, expecially if $ could be made. Caveat: this was 4-5 years ago, things may be completely different now...
See ya'll tomorrow.
Greg

bikerecker · Post by **bikerecker** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:45 pm

Forgot to add: we put together a 1 mile circuit for our bike race series, so the lots are huge and would allow foa some pretty nice course desgins.

Crash477 · Post by **Crash477** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:38 am

I'm going to drive over that way today. I may try and talk with someone briefly.

The lot above the pond looks ideal, and very large. Does anyone have contact information for anyone at Chilhowee Park, or Knoxville Zoo?

Crash477 · Post by **Crash477** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:47 am

I went and drove over the Chilhowee Park lot, and its in pretty good condition. There are 1 or 2 storm drains, and a little bump where they must have repaved one side. But I think it could work for a good sized course, we would just need to get the lot on the south side of the pond for grid and paddock.

bikerecker · Post by **bikerecker** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:47 pm

Don't remember who I talked to there. I started with a call to their office, which is on site.

contact:
http://www.ci.knoxville.tn.us/parks/chilhowee.asp