A new investor is looking to make the race track in Bonfield into an all-events location in 2019.
Lisa Groves is the president of Barrie Automotive Flea Market. The company purchased the land at 357 Development Road in Bonfield.
“We’re going to do the drag races, I’m not sure how many times a year, and then we’re going to do our Barrie Automotive Flea Market as well and I want to do a host of other community-related events,” Groves told CKAT.
The new investor is calling it the Bonfield Automotive Flea Market.
Bonfield Mayor Randy McLaren believes the sale is good news for the area.
“The site has sat idle for quite some time now and from all accounts this investor certainly knows her way around special events and festivals along with an automotive flea market obviously,” said McLaren.
“I think it can only bring better things there to what has been happening lately.”
McLaren says that racing will not be the main event at the location.
“I think the purchaser indicated that the racing is going to be a minimal part of the business,” noted McLaren.
“The investor sees it as more like an outdoor event park. The racing, because it is there and built she feels it is appropriate to utilize it a bit, but her main focus is these smaller concerts and her automotive flea market and other type events where you would attract a crowd of up to 5,000 people for a two-day event and move on to the next show type of thing.”
Groves believes a variety of events will be good for business.
“To be a vendor you have to have 75 percent automotive products or goods, or you can show your car, there’s a car sales area as well, we have on-site camping, we have a licensed area with entertainment,” she says.
The Barrie Automotive Flea Market began back in 1971 and, according to their website, has been one of the top 100 events in Ontario the past five years, bringing in an economic impact of $6 million per event.
