Monday, February 4, 2013
Horsham's Village Mall, which was rundown and nearly vacant last year, appears to be coming back in a big way.
What a difference the past year has made for Horsham's previously faltering Village Mall. The shopping center, which saw its heyday in the '70s and was nearly vacant this time last year, has since added two large anchors in the form of Speed Raceway and Ollie's Bargain Outlet. More recently, the shopping plaza's facade has been modernized and made over. Horsham officials have said that more is in store for Village Mall, it's just a matter of when its owner, New York-based Carlyle Management Corp., intends to move forward. Consideration of Village Mall's land development plans have been on several Horsham Township Council meeting agendas since June, but have been tabled each time at the applicant's request. With the fresh green "The …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Speed Raceway in Horsham is hosting a fundraiser this weekend. See what else is happening.
Would you like to be on a game show, or zoom around a racetrack? This weekend you can do both and more. Here are some options. REV UP FOR CHARITY Where/when: Speed Raceway, 200 Blair Mill Road, Horsham, Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Why go: Proceeds will help provide financial and emotional support to families in Bucks and Montgomery counties that have lost a parent and are raising children under the age of 18. Cost: $20 BEEKEEPING Where/when: 435 W. Glenside Ave., Glenside, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Why go: This 101 for beginners gives an introduction to bees and beekeeping, including hive set up, what to expect during a typical harvest year and informative bee facts. Cost: $10 “THE SURVEY SAYS…” GAME SHOW NIGHT Where/when: 1031 …
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Speed Raceway celebrated its grand opening Saturday. The electric go kart facility has two tracks, race simulators, party rooms and more fun for the family.
Horsham’s first - and only - indoor go kart racing facility celebrated its grand opening Saturday afternoon, six weeks after the 100,000-square-foot facility first opened its doors. Montgomery County Commissioner Chairman, Josh Shapiro assisted co-owner Carl Asplundh with the ceremonial ribbon cutting to commemorate the new Horsham Speed Raceway location. Speed Raceway, which fills the former Walmart in the Village Mall, offers two race tracks, two conference rooms, two party rooms, a winner’s circle, gift shop and more. Keith Asplundh, Carl’s son and partner, said the go karts run on electric as opposed to gas. “Most go kart facilities are gas, but more and more in the future they’ll go electric,” he said. Registering for a membership is…
Friday, August 24, 2012
The indoor go kart racing facility in Horsham, has added some new signage outside its facility, which opened earlier this month.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Horsham shopping plaza, situated at Blair Mill Road and Moreland Avenue, is bustling with activity.
Until recently, the Horsham community wondered about the fate of the beleaguered Village Mall. Could the shopping center, which saw its heyday in the 1970s, turn around from nearly vacant to bustling once again? It appears that the plaza's revitalization is underway. Speed Raceway is expected to open soon in the 100,000-square-foot former Walmart site. Ollie's Bargain Outlet plans to open later this month, Panda Pavilion has been renovated and relocated and facade upgrades are ongoing.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Speed Raceway representatives said the Horsham location, at the former Walmart in Village Mall, will open by the end of July.
Two tracks, 54 go karts, seven-minute-long races. Those are the main components fueling the second Speed Raceway franchise, an indoor racing facility, which is expected to open in Horsham's Village Mall next month. Co-owner Travis Thompson gave Patch an inside look at the evolution of the 106,000-square-foot former Walmart building, which when complete, will serve as the nexus for green-and-black battery-powered race cars able to travel up to 50 miles per hour. "There's very few in the country that have two tracks," Thompson said of the 30 other similar centers nationwide. From there, it's just simple numbers: 44 adult go karts, 10 for kids; 10 races per track for 20 total at a time. Each race takes six to seven minutes to complete, …
Monday, April 23, 2012
The former Walmart store will be transformed into an indoor go kart racing facility.
It’s taken nearly a year of meetings, denials and an appeal, but investors behind a planned Speed Raceway got the green light from Horsham Township Council Monday night. The indoor kart racing facility will fill the 100,000-square-foot space previously occupied by Walmart at the nearly vacant Village Mall shopping center on Blair Mill Road. Travis Thompson, one of two investors involved in the $1 million project, said late Monday that the facility will tentatively open on July 4. Following the direction of Horsham Township attorney Mary Eberle, the governing body voted unanimously Monday to approve a settlement agreement with Speed Raceway applicants - including Thompson, president of Ivyland-based Suburban Marble and Granite, and Carl …
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The zoning hearing board backed Horsham Township in its stance that Speed Raceway’s application is not a permissible use at the former Walmart site.
The shuttered Walmart on Blair Mill Road in Horsham will remain closed at least a while longer. The former anchor of the Village Mall had been the site of choice for a go kart racing facility as proposed by locals involved with the Speed Raceway indoor electric go kart racing franchise. But, on Tuesday, the Horsham zoning hearing board voted unanimously to deny the application “in its entirety.” Following the decision, Travis Thompson, one of a half dozen partners who had planned to finance the project, said he was not sure if an appeal of the board’s decision would be filed. Thompson, who was present at the meeting, said he needed to sit down this week with the partners and evaluate it. "We’re disappointed. We’re local guys," said …
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Speedway Raceway would like to convert the former Walmart into an electric go kart race track, Horsham's zoning hearing board is expected to render a decision on Aug. 9.
Is there a difference between “amusement” and “recreation?” And what constitutes “passive” and “active” uses? The Horsham Zoning Hearing Board will weigh in with its opinion on these definitions related to whether an indoor electric go kart racing facility is permitted to locate at the shuttered Walmart, 200 Blair Mill Road, in the largely vacant Village Mall shopping center. During Tuesday night’s meeting, the board heard back and forth testimony from individuals representing the proposed Speed Raceway franchise, as well as township officials who, in fighting the facility’s placement within the strip mall, argued that racing is a “recreation” and “active” use and therefore not permitted. Township attorney Peter Nelson said the use, as …
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The township council will note its opposition when the zoning hearing board considers the application on July 12.
Brokers behind a plan to convert Horsham’s shuttered Walmart into an indoor kart racing facility will need to fuel up to fight. Voicing many of the same concerns expressed when the governing body reviewed the application last month, four of five Horsham Township Council members on Monday night opposed the application, in large part, because of its intended location, in the “run-down” Village Mall shopping center, amid several empty storefronts. Council President Mark McCouch, who lives near the plaza, which is located on Blair Mill Road, said he talked to some of his neighbors about the proposal. “Although people like the idea and would certainly go somewhere to do that, “ McCouch said, “the overwhelming majority of people didn’t think it…
Vera Passaretti
10:12 am on Monday, February 4, 2013
Now if we could get the old pizza place back. it would be perfect. more ›