BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT MITCHELL- Turfway Park owner and developer Jerry Carroll said Wednesday that he would "absolutely" build an auto racing track in or near Northern Kentucky if a feasibility study indicates that the track could be a success.

"We are very excited about this," Mr. Carroll told The Enquirer's editorial board at its offices in Fort Mitchell. "This is the No. 1 thing we are working on. We're spending thousands and thousands of dollars just to do the research . . . and we're trying to go about it with the idea that a NASCAR track, an auto-racing track, is something the people in this area want.

"If the study comes back and says it will work, we'll absolutely do it."

In a two-hour, wide-ranging interview, Mr. Carroll, Turfway Park and Carroll Properties President Mark Simendinger and Turfway spokesman Damon Thayer talked about the auto racing track, Turfway's attempts at winning state approval to offer casino-style gambling and Mr. Carroll's plans to develop a portion of the Covington riverfront.

"My new word is energy," said an ebullient Mr. Carroll. "A city has to have energy to get things done, to make things happen. "There's always been energy to me in any kind of development. That's what's got us exciteed about NASCAR or any kind of auto racing, and that's what has us excited about developing property in Covington."

Mr. Carroll has commissioned Don Schumacher and Associates, a Cincinnati sports marketing, management and consulting company, to examine financing, building and operating a major auto racing operation locally.

Even if the study is positive, it could be four years or more before a $50 million to $150 million track is built.

But communities, business leaders, property owners and racing fans in Greater Cincinnati have contacted Mr. Carroll to encourage him to pursue construction of the track.

Mr. Carroll said he envisions the track's being built outside the three-county Northern Kentucky area, possibly in Grant or Carroll counties along Interstate 75 or 71.

State Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, the head of the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus, recently wrote Mr. Carroll and asked him to look at Carroll County and its county seat, Carrollton, as a possible location for an auto racing track.

"Carrollton is a fine community that has been active in promoting tourism and economic development," said Mr. Marcotte, who represents Carroll County.

"And it would make sense geographically. Carrollton is about midway between Louisville and Cincinnati, and is close enough to Indianapolis and Lexington. I don't know if anything will ever happen on this, but if they're looking, they ought to at least look there," he said.

Mr. Carroll is also working on a development plan for 10 acres of the Covington riverfront just west of the RiverCenter office and hotel complex, and near where the $29 million Northern Kentucky Convention Center is being built.

Under an agreement he reached April 16 with the Covington City Commission, Mr. Carroll has 90 days to come up with a plan for the area. "We're researching what we can put in to really enhance the community, be profitable and possibly be a tourism drawing card," he said.

Mr. Carroll said he does not want to replicate what has already been done on the river, some of which has failed or had financial problems, such as the nearby Covington Landing, a floating restaurant and entertainment complex that is in bankruptcy.

And Mr. Simendinger said they do not want to do any floating restaurants or complexes, that what Carroll Properties develops "will be on land."

"There is a tremendous infrastructure cost with the site" because of the earthen floodwall that would have to be moved, Mr. Simendinger said.

"We could come up with a scheme tomorrow if we weren't concerned about really making it a good business deal. You've got to make it something that is worth the investment."

Mr. Carroll said he would possibly like to attract one of the music or movie-themed restaurant chains springing up around the country, such as Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe, or the high-tech video arcade restaurant - bar developed by movie director Steven Spielberg in Seattle.

"It's got to be a user that makes a substantial difference to the community to justify paying a lot of money to reconfigure that area into a pedestrian-friendly, large scale, entertaining people place," Mr. Simendinger said.

Mr. Carroll, who has developed more than $100 million in Turfway and in retail and office space in Nashville, Tenn., and Florence, is actively seeking new streams of revenue because of the money he says Indiana's riverboat casinos are draining from Turfway Park.

The track's business is down 38 percent since the opening of the Rising Sun and Lawrenceburg boats, which have taken in more than $1 billion since fall.

Mr. Carroll is hoping state lawmakers back legislation next year that would allow race tracks to offer some form of gambling. But while Gov. Paul Patton has been receptive to gambling at tracks as a way to protect Kentucky's thoroughbred industry - the largest industry in the state - many lawmakers have been cool to or flat out against Mr. Carroll's proposal, which is also being pushed by Louisville's Churchill Downs.

"I could not support gambling," Mr. Marcotte said. "It's not good public policy. But Jerry Carroll is a creative business person. He'll find a solution."

Previous stories

IF PAYOFF RIGHT, CARROLL WILL ACT WITH SPEED Tim Sullivan column, May 15, 1997
RACE TRACK STUDY TO LAST 3-4 MONTHS May 15, 1997
FANS FLOCK TO NASCAR STORE April 17, 1997