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In January 2002, the Sheboygan County Highway Department
announced plans for "reconstruction" of a County Road A, a part of the race
circuits. The project called for straightening, widening, and leveling the road,
changing its historic character. Broad-based opposition to the project sprang up
immediately. Throughout 2002 and 2003 the opposition circulated petitions and
filed protests with the County Transportation Committee and the County Board of
Supervisors, but the Highway Department continued with its plan. By the spring
of 2004 the Highway Department began removing trees along the right-of-way to
prepare for the next summer's construction. Protests escalated in March, when
the Road America Board of Directors voted and approved a resolution "... to
preserve and protect the original road configuration." In April, the Milwaukee
Region SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) asked the County for a halt to the
project. Although the Highway Department had been advised of the existence of
the race circuits, they seemed indifferent to the requests for preservation.
Since the County's funding plan for reconstruction on the
historic circuit included the use of Federal highway, the project fell under the
provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Act was adopted by
Congress to prevent the destruction of historically significant structures and
sites. Early in 2004, acting for HRC, Road America filed a formal request for a
Determination of Eligibility for preservation of the historic circuits under the
Preservation Act. In July 2004, the historic circuits were declared eligible for
preservation and all construction activity was suspended.
Once the historic race circuits were declared eligible for
preservation, a process of mitigation began under §106 of the Historic
Preservation Act. §106 required the Highway Department to seek input from
the public and negotiate with interested parties, including HRC. After gathering
input at a public meeting held in September 2004 and in consideration of the
negotiation required, the County withdrew its request for Federal funding in
February 2005. This ended the §106 proceeding.
 Termination of the §106 process meant that HRC needed to find
another way to preserve the race circuits. In 2002, under similar circumstances,
the historic open road race circuits located in Watkins Glen, New York, had been
preserved by obtaining listing as a historic site on the State and National
Register of Historic Places. Following the example of Watkins Glen, HRC
sponsored and funded the nomination of the Elkhart Lake Open Road Race Circuits
for inclusion in the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places. On September 23,
2005 the historic circuits were listed on the Wisconsin State Register and
declared eligible for listing on the National Register. On February 17, 2006
they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, joining Watkins
Glen as the only other historic open road race circuit so preserved.
Click on Previous Events for the
story of the 2006 Dedication Ceremony. Despite listing on the
National Register and the protections that the listing affords under Wisconsin
historic preservation laws, in November 2008 the Sheboygan County Highway
Department undertook an unauthorized cut and fill project removing portions of
the banks on the north side of the CTH A section of the historic circuits in the
area of Hamill's Hollow. HRC notified the Wisconsin State Historical Societies
Preservation Officer who on investigation found that the unauthorized project
had an adverse effect on the historic property. As partial remediation for this
unauthorized action, the Highway Department was required to contract with an
independent archeological historian to prepare a Preservation and Maintenance
Plan for the Historic Circuits. Subsequently, the Highway Department contracted
with Heritage Research, Ltd. of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin for preparation of
that plan. After many false starts, lengthy negotiations and seemingly unending
frustrations, Heritage completed a draft of the Plan late in 2009 and submitted
it for review by the Historical Society. In 2010 the Plan was approved by the
Historical Society and subsequently formally adopted by the Sheboygan County
Highway Department. Adoption of the Plan is a significant step toward insuring
that the Elkhart Lake Historic Race Circuits will be maintained in their
original unaltered configuration for the enjoyment of current and future
generations. For more information on the
Preservation and Maintenance Plan
click on Latest News and
Volume 10 of the "Preservationist". |
