Where should Dale Earnhardt memorial go?

KANNAPOLIS — The steering committee working on a Dale Earnhardt memorial will seek public comment on the best place for a planned statue and tribute wall.

The committee had selected Village Park as the site for what’s being called the “Dale Earnhardt Tribute.” But recently, some committee members and business leaders raised doubts that the park is the right location.

Mayor Ray Moss, who also chairs the committee, this morning appointed a four-member subcommittee to meet with interested parties and come back in a month with a recommendation on the best venue for the memorial.

Roger Haas, a former city council member appointed to lead the subcommittee, said its members will seek citizens’ input, possibly at a public meeting with a date and time to be announced later.

Moss said earlier this month that he would be willing to listen to proposals. Today, with the item on the committee’s agenda, he said he still hadn’t heard enough about any proposal to consider a change.

“I am not prepared to make any decisions on an alternate site until I hear more information,” he said.

The steering committee formed soon after the death of Earnhardt, the legendary stock car racer and Kannapolis native, at the Daytona 500 in February 2001.

With a tentative budget of $700,000, the committee set about raising money through private donations, choosing Arizona sculptor Clyde Ross Morgan to produce the statue and choosing a site.

The committee chose Village Park, off Loop Road between West A and West C streets, because it provides the best publicly owned land available, Moss said.

Other sites considered included Veterans Park next to Cannon Village, but the city, which last year changed that park’s name from Town Park, wants to reserve it to honor veterans, the mayor said.

Cannon Village owner Atlantic American Properties, which is owned by California financier David Murdock, subsequently offered land on Main Street, the site of the old Montgomery Ward building in the village.

The land is near the future site of a new railroad depot, and Kannapolis leaders hope that will help attract more visitors to the shopping district. Some committee members say putting the memorial there might provide an economic boost, as well.

The committee members say, however, that they would want the blessings of Earnhardt’s family on any change in the memorial venue.

Cathy Watkins, Earnhardt’s sister, serves on the steering committee. She said that Martha Earnhardt, their mother, “would hope the committee would do what is best for the city,” even if that means changing the site.

Of the Village Park location, Watkins said, “Sure, it’s going to bring people from out (of town), but it won’t bring people to the downtown area and generate revenue.”

In other business, the committee learned that donations toward the project as of Wednesday totaled $20,388.24.

Committee members agreed to plan a fund-raising effort at the May NASCAR race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. And Sam Bass, a well-known motorsports artist who is designing the tribute wall, offered to donate proceeds from the sale of certain Earnhardt prints.

Contact Scott Jenkins at 704-797-4248 or sjenkins@salisburypost.com .

If you have an idea for the best place for the memorial, please e-mail your comments to news@salisburypost.com  or call 704-797-4225, leaving your name and a daytime phone number.