News from the Save the Silo Group More information: Ross Fosbender
3618 E. 1769th Rd.
Ottawa, IL 61350
815-434-9882
New August 21, 2006 For immediate release: rossf@cognifast.com
Major landmark at historic racetrack endangered
The Meadowdale Raceway silo is the major identifier for the track, and has been
an area landmark alongside Illinois Highway 31 for almost fifty years. In recent
years the silo has become weathered, defaced by vandals, and shrouded by
non-native vegetation. The Kane County Forest Preserve District, on whose
portion of the property the silo stands, planned to tear it down. When that
demolition plan was discovered, local citizens, and racers and historians from
around the world, rallied to save the structure.
The Forest Preserve District agreed to delay their planned demolition of the silo for six months to allow a citizens' group to raise money and work on restoring the silo. The group hired a structural engineer who confirmed that the silo is structurally sound, needing only minor repairs to stand for many more years. They plan to make the few repairs, repaint it, and clear away the junk trees and greenery so it is again visible from Highway 31.
Their next big challenge is money. To make the repairs, put doors or grates on the openings, and re-paint and letter the silo will cost just under $13,000. (To tear it down and haul it away was estimated at over $20,000.)
The group has received substantial donations from local individuals and car clubs. It is applying for grants and high level corporate donations, but these may be long in coming and the Forest Preserve District has imposed a six-month deadline to show substantial progress on the project.
Donations from individuals and organizations who value the history of the track and the area are being solicited. A special fund has been set up at a local bank: Save the Silo Fund c/o Cardunal Savings Bank, Attn: Bill Geister, Vice-President, 704 W. Main St. P.O. Box 97, Dundee, IL 60118. 847-428-3636.
Donors will receive an attractive certificate, be on an honor roll of donors on the track website www.meadowdaleraceway.homestead.com and, hopefully, at the track.
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Meadowdale Raceway, Carpentersville, IL, was a world renowned road racing course during the 1950s and '60s. It was 3.27 miles long and its steeply banked 180 degree Monza Wall led onto a 4,000 foot roller coaster straight.
Most of the famous drivers of the era raced there- Jim Rathman, Lloyd Ruby, Mark Donohue, Jim Hall, Fred Lorenzen, Ken Miles, Bobby Unser, and Roger Ward were just a few. Well-known amateurs included Augie Pabst, Harry Heuer, Jerry Hansen, Chuck Daigh, Lance Reventlow, and Zora Arkus-Duntov.
Unlike most old tracks, Meadowdale has not been covered over by subdivisions and shopping centers. The property has been purchased by the Kane County Forest Preserve District, the Dundee Township Park District and Dundee Township to save as a 330 acre open space in what is now crowded Chicago suburbia.
