Drag racers in Port Alberni are once again asking the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) to let them race at the airport.
Members of the Alberni Valley Drag Racing Association (AVDRA) spoke to the regional district’s board of directors on Wednesday, May 8, asking for permission to hold a three-day event in 2024 that would include a car show and drag racing at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport (AVRA).
Drag racers previously used the airport for their annual “Thunder in the Valley” event, but this contract was terminated by the ACRD back in 2015 when the airport was expanded. The races were held on Stamp Avenue for a few years, but this had to be halted after the San Group constructed a new remanufacturing plant on land that had been used as pits for the race cars.
The AVDRA applied for a three-year lease at the airport following the expansion, but the ACRD ultimately denied this application in an in-camera meeting in 2019.
READ MORE: Drag racers ‘blindsided’ by Alberni-Clayoquot RD’s denial to use regional airport
Roger Haggerty, the president of the AVDRA, said that Thunder in the Valley brought an average of $1.1 million into Port Alberni for the weekend between spectators and racers (adjusted to around $1.7 million with today’s inflation).
“This provides a large number of customers and revenue to our local businesses in the Alberni Valley, as well as community pride,” said Haggerty.
They also held a charity cruise in 2021 through the city and regional district, which raised more than $15,000 that was donated to Tseshaht First Nation and the West Coast General Hospital Foundation. There were thousands of spectators, said Haggerty, which shows that there is still support for drag racing in Port Alberni.
READ MORE: Thunder in the Valley cruise raises $16K for charities
The AVDRA is still looking at long-term options for a permanent drag racing track. Haggerty says they are looking at the former Link Mill site owned by Mosaic Forest Management, as well as some Crown land.
READ MORE: Port Alberni drag racers looking at permanent track
In the meantime, Haggerty says, the AVDRA is applying to use the airport for one weekend in 2024. He pointed out that the ACRD’s zoning bylaw for the airport allows for “seasonal exhibition use.” The event, he said, would not impact airport function and organizers would make sure to halt the races when planes are taking off or landing.
“The runway would still function as an airport,” said Haggerty.
He drew comparisons to the communities of Port McNeill and Sechelt, which also host drag races at their airports. Sechelt, in particular, has a similar story when compared to the Alberni Valley. The Sunshine Coast Drag Racing Association held multiple events at the Sechelt airport for more than 20 years, but had to halt drag racing when the airport was expanded in 2021.
Racers finally returned to the airport in 2023 with approval from District of Sechelt council.
Harley Wiley, an elected Councillor with Tseshaht First Nation, also spoke at the meeting, offering his support as a Tseshaht member and drag racing fan.
“It’s an opportunity to do something different,” he said. “It’s a family-friendly activity that could put Port Alberni on the map for other drag racing communities and bring even more people to the valley.”
Beaufort director Fred Boyko said he needed more information before he could make a decision.
“The current set of directors that are in this room, that are going to be making a decision on this, were not involved in the decision to deny this application,” he said, referring to the in-camera meeting back in 2019.
He added that he would like to see the drag racers use the airport, since it is funded by taxpayers. The ACRD also collects revenue from leases at the airport.
Sproat Lake director Penny Cote, who was a member of the board during that in-camera meeting, said she wants to support drag racing in the Alberni Valley but also wants to make sure the event is a legal one. She said it was the province that said ‘no’ to the event back in 2019.
READ MORE: B.C. government puts kibosh on drag racing at Alberni Valley Regional Airport
The board asked ACRD staff on Wednesday to come back with a report, made in consultation with AVDRA, that will allow the board to make an informed decision about drag racing at the airport.
“If there’s anything legal, we would flag it at that point,” said the regional district’s CAO Daniel Sailland.