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[quote=Ernest T Bass;18226907]Hey Pog. Since you're the Raleigh historical guru.
Well...not really. I was born here in 1950, so I took in just a little more than some of you guys who are a little younger. I'm sure you guys can stump me on the more current stuff.
Yes there was a racetrack...The Raleigh Speedway....just about where you heard it was. Check map on this site. Raleigh Speedway (site) Raleigh
Hey Pog. Since you're the Raleigh historical guru.
Well...not really. I was born here in 1950, so I took in just a little more than some of you guys who are a little younger. I'm sure you guys can stump me on the more current stuff.
Yes there was a racetrack...The Raleigh Speedway....just about where you heard it was. Check map on this site. Raleigh Speedway (site) Raleigh
That racetrack fascinates me. My family have old pics of my grandpa racing there...
I guess we almost had the NASCAR pull that went to Charlotte right there off Capital Blvd.
That would be The Forest Drive Inn...now Ashton Square I think they call it.
Did you know the original Forest Drive Inn stood in the southeast corner of the intersection of Capitol and the Beltline(Behind now what is Green Front Interior's) Sure was
Then it turned into great spot for XXX pictures. I know many a teenager (not me, didn't care for the stuff) who would sneak into the shows in the trunks of their friends' cars.
There was a really crappy flea market there on weekends, too.
That racetrack fascinates me. My family have old pics of my grandpa racing there...
I guess we almost had the NASCAR pull that went to Charlotte right there off Capital Blvd.
It always fascinated me too. We had something really big in the making and the city of Raleigh closed it down in the late 50's because it violated the Sunday noise ordinance. Here's a photo after it had already closed in 1960. I remember on my first trip on the beltline you could still see the track on the right when heading towards Wake Forest Rd
It always fascinated me too. We had something really big in the making and the city of Raleigh closed it down in the late 50's because it violated the Sunday noise ordinance. Here's a photo after it had already closed in 1960. I remember on my first trip on the beltline you could still see the track on the right when heading towards Wake Forest Rd
The city likes to do stupid stuff. Like, say, paying too much for a dinky piece of art to place out on Capital Blvd.
An entire local political career was built on that piece of public art. IMO, the problem with the Time+Light Tower (the name is another piece of Raleigh trivia in itself) is that it's in the wrong place. To see the effects of the tower, one needs to be heading out of town on Capital in the morning and into the city in the afternoon. Well, unfortunately, that's the opposite path of travel for most who use Capital during those times.
I think the tower should be moved to somewhere that's more pedestrian instead of where it is now. I also think that the individual panels should be pivoted to give a variety of light defracting effects. From the looks of it, it appears that the individual panels can be adjusted at pivot points.
By the way, the artist of the Time+Light Tower was Dale Eldred. He died soon after this commission as he tried to rescue things from his studio during a flood.
An entire local political career was built on that piece of public art. IMO, the problem with the Time+Light Tower (the name is another piece of Raleigh trivia in itself) is that it's in the wrong place. To see the effects of the tower, one needs to be heading out of town on Capital in the morning and into the city in the afternoon. Well, unfortunately, that's the opposite path of travel for most who use Capital during those times.
Ol' Tommy got a lot of mileage out of that one didn't he I always liked the Tower myself. I still always look for it when I'm riding down Downtown Blvd. I agree that it was just placed in the wrong place.
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