By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — Years ago, Tom Deery recalls, people would talk about going “up there” to the Rockford Speedway.
“Up there” at the time meant traveling about seven miles outside the city of Rockford to a largely rural area where the sole attraction was the banked oval short track that drew thousands of motorsports enthusiasts each year.
But the landscape around the Rockford Speedway, 9572 Forest Hills Road, is nothing like it was when it was founded more than 75 years ago. Now, it’s adjacent to an urgent care facility, hundreds of homes and one of the busiest commercial corridors in the county.
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“This very much was out in the country,” Deery said. “The country has gone away and the city’s caught us and gobbled it up.”
That’s one part of the reason the family decided that now was the time shutter the Speedway and transform the property into something that looks more like its neighbors. The Rockford Speedway will operate for one last season this summer before working to develop the site into a mix of businesses and possibly residential properties.
“The fact that this place has been able to operate as long as it has, that’s an anomaly,” Tom Deery said.
The roughly 50-acre property will be transitioned to HJS Development to identify future uses.
The family hasn’t named any tenants for the future commercial space yet, but the plan is to build a mix of commercial property along the front of Illinois 173 with possible multi-family residential, medical or other commercial facilities on the back portion of the property. Tom Deery said he doesn’t expect much by the way of big-box stores on the land.
“I think the big business stores pretty much all have addresses on this street,” he said.
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Loves Park started paving the way to spur development on the land last year. It created a new tax-increment finance district surrounding the Speedway that can be used to offer development incentives.
Mayor Greg Jury said at the time that it was the last undeveloped corridor in the city. On Wednesday, he pledged to help the family identify future development opportunities.
“The Deery family have been great business partners over the last 75 years, and the city will work with them exploring future development opportunities on this historic site,” Jury said. “If we continue to work together and do a lot of planning, this historic site is going to continue to be a great asset for the city of Loves Park.”
Increased pressure to develop
Tom Deery said interest in developing the land had picked up recently, another reason why the family decided now was the time to have its final season.
Jody Deery, the matriarch of the family who ran the business until her late 90s, had resisted developers for years, but after the coronavirus pandemic ground business to a halt and threatened the Speedway’s future she began to entertain discussions, the family said.
Deery died in June at age 97. A stretch of Forest Hills Road in front of the Speedway was renamed in her honor last year.
“The property is the last developable property for Loves Park on (Illinois 173) and is in demand,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, principal for Shorewood Development, which manages HJS Development. “Shorewood understands the Speedway has been a family entertainment tradition and realizes this will leave a void in the city of Loves Park and the racing world. However, the development opportunities along the 173 corridor are limited, creating pressure on the Deery Family.”
The value of the land has also increased because of the surrounding development, which creates economic pressures because of the tax burden that comes with it. Winnebago County records show the Speedway paid more than $65,000 in property taxes last year alone.
“It makes it tough to operate a business that runs 40 or 50 times a year, because the property taxes are a 365 days a year deal,” Tom Deery said.
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The Speedway was also on the brink of needing to invest millions of dollars in renovations and upkeep on the property.
“The venue is to the point now where it needs another $2-$3 million investment in capital improvements to really deliver to the customer the right way,” Tom Deery said. “You either take that step or not, and it really just doesn’t make sense in the economic reality of where we are.”
The work will begin with the dismantling of Forest Hills Lodge, which was built in 1977 and has hosted hundreds of events over the years. That will close June 1, and staff will work to relocate any events previously booked after that date.
The lodge needs to be removed because a new road connecting Kimber Drive to Forest Hills Road will go right through where the banquet hall is now. There will also be underground utilities such as water and stormsewer needed.
“That’s why that business needs to shut down quickly, so we can dismantle that, and then they can begin to build the road, and more importantly bury the utilities,” Tom Deery said.
Until then, the family says it will focus on making its final season one that all the spectators and competitors remember.
The Rockford Late Models, Roadrunners, Short Trackers, Figure 8, Sportsmen, Original Sixers, Bandits, Super Stox and Spectacular Drags will be featured in the final season. A special grand finale weekend will be announced at a later date.
“It’s been a great place to work, nice people, a great family to work for. I really hate to see it happen. Times are changing and with what’s going on with the neighborhood, it might be the right decision to make,” said Steve Dickson, a longtime driver, fan and track official. “I can’t say anything other than I’ve enjoyed being here.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas