Indoor go-cart track in Carson City has green light going forward

Construction has begun on a 750 foot indoor go-cart track planned at 3777 North Carson Street in Carson City, chief architect Ken Rose said Friday.

Located in an old furniture store built in 1970, the warehouse space is laid out over 35,000 square feet.

Rose said there is a lot of renovation work that needs to be completed inside the building to make the space suitable for an indoor go-cart venue.

"The structure was built in phases," he said. "One part concrete, another masonry, and another part wood. There are a lot of wood beams in there and steel reinforcing."

Much of the concrete flooring also needs to be redone, Rose said, because of an electrical systems put in underneath the current surface.

"There is a lot of concrete flooring inside that have electrical outlets in them that were used by the furniture store for staging furniture," he said. "We have a lot of things to go through to modify, to remove, and to patch up to make this suitable for an indoor racing park."

He said the concrete floor will be grinded off, polished over and refinished as the base of the track's racing surface.

But despite the amount of workd that needs to be done, he said ownership hopes to open for business in late May or early June of this year.

The property, he said, is owned by Jamy Keshmiri, who also owns Ben's Fine Wines and Liquor next door and Battle Born Properties, LLC, under which the special use and building permits were filed.

Rose said Keshmiri's company received the building permit for the go-cart facility about a month ago after the project was approved by the Carson City Planning Commission late last year.

In between the special use permit review and building permit being issued, Rose said some changes have been made to the original construction plans to make the project more efficient for the company.

"We have made some revisions to the original plan because it was a little costly," he said. "This is an old building requiring a lot of structural repairs and renovation to allow for an indoor track. We have revised the track design to make it a little bit smaller and more affordable in terms of structural rehabilitation."

The overall track length was shortened, he said, to 750 feet. But it will also be 16 feet wide, allowing for 12 different curves and straight-aways over the entire course.

As many as eight carts can run on the track at a time, Rose said, while the facility can hold up to 150 people.

The track will be built for safety, he said, something that owner Keshmiri insists upon.

"Public safety is our main concern, so that's why we go through the training regimen," Rose said.

Drivers will be required to participate in pre-driving safety instruction and be outfitted with safety gear before they can set foot in the pit area.

"There will a process to train all the drivers," Rose said, "including a special room where receive an introduction to the operation of the cars and the safety features."

Drivers will also be fitted with driving helmets and receive proper instruction on entering and exiting the vehicles safely before being escorted to the pit and situated in their cars, which are then guided onto the track for racing.

The cars, Rose said, will be totally electric-powered — no gasoline engines inside the ground-floor level indoor racing park.

"It's a very quiet operation, and it's very safe," he said. "The track has rails all the way around it to keep the carts on the track, and the cart path will be fenced off with a four foot high transparent barrier."

Powered by industrial-grade lithium batteries, the carts will resemble more scaled versions of professional race cars than conventional go-karts.

"They aren't pipe frames," Rose said. "These are little racers, like something you'd see at Disney World."

Rose said the company looks to invest in as many as 20 carts, which will be top of the line products made in France, where indoor electric cart racing has become a popular venue across much of Europe.

"All the parts are proprietary," he said. "They are very low to the ground and very comfortable. They look like little Le Mans racers."

The carts will be sleek, he said, making little noise as they buzz around the course.

"They're pretty quiet," Rose said. "They are also very fast, but we've governed them down to the capabilities of the track so that nobody's going to go flying through the wall."

Riders will have 7-10 minutes to race at a time before returning to the pit, he said, where the cars will be recharged for the next timed racing series.

There will be sufficient seating outside of the racing area for people to watch and wait for their turns on the track while enjoying additional family entertainment venues, Rose said.

Rose said Keshmiri envisions a racing park that will bring something different to Carson City while still nurturing the fun and excitement of sought-after family entertainment.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "It's a unique experience. The owner and the operator has enjoyed his own experiences with these electric go-karts, and he thought how wonderful it would be to share this with other folks."

Costs of use haven't been hashed out yet, Rose said, but the owner is looking at a similar indoor racing operation in Reno called Need For Speed as an infrastructure model.

He said Keshmiri chose Carson City in order to fill a unique niche here that doesn't already exist. Plus, the Nevada state capital is centrally located for other nearby communities, such as Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties, as well as the communities along east and south shore Lake Tahoe.

"His business plan is to make this profitable," Rose said about Keshmiri. "But I think more than that, this is an opportunity make a more enjoyable experience. This is not something we see as a golden parachute."