May 9, 2007 By Christine Haines 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE – The Greater Brownsville Area Chamber of Commerce is urging borough council to vote in favor of having a feasibility study done for a proposed bicycle racing facility. Only the chamber’s executive secretary, Scott Bowman, voted against the motion Tuesday that calls on council to support the velodrome project. Chamber member Norma Ryan questioned whether the feasibility study would look at sites other than the downtown area.

“Contrary to what anyone says, I’m not opposed to this. I love recreation. I just don’t want to see us lose our post office and library,” Ryan said.

Chamber President Frank Ricco said the first paragraph of the preliminary feasibility study given to council a few weeks ago states that if the downtown site is not feasible, other sites within the borough will be considered.

Carl DellaPenna, the chamber’s vice president, said the downtown location is the first preference for the velodrome.

“What they want is a site where restaurants and shops can be built up around it,” DellaPenna said.

“Do you think some of the concerns are that Mr. Liggett has been involved?” Ryan said.

Ernest Liggett, his wife and their several companies own a large portion of the downtown area, though only a few of the parcels that would be needed for the velodrome itself. Chamber director Ray Koffler said Liggett has not been involved in the velodrome project, at least not any of the meetings that he and Ricco have had with Jack Norris of CB Richard Ellis, the real estate management firm seeking approval for the feasibility study.

Liggett has sent e-mails to Fayette County Commissioners Joseph A. Hardy and Vincent A. Vicites seeking letters of support for the velodrome and e-mails to borough officials regarding a meeting at California University of Pennsylvania with the university president, Brownsville Area School District officials and several other people. Koffler said Norris has asked Liggett to back off the project.

Ryan cautioned against development based on a single enterprise.

“When we lost the coal, we lost the town. If we focus the whole town on the velodrome and 10 years later it’s not the popular thing, if we put all our eggs in one basket, we’re setting ourselves up for failure,” Ryan said.

Several chamber members said anything is better than what Brownsville has now.

“We look like a war zone,” Harold Richardson said.

“The only question I have is, ‘Are you satisfied with the way town looks?'” said Koffler. “This is a legitimate, international company that has come here and asked us to do a feasibility study.”

“It’s very critical at this time because Meadville also wants it badly,” Ricco said.

Koffler said Uniontown also would jump at the chance to host velodrome and USA Cycling headquarters.