Council comes up with Indy funding

City council has come up with a funding model that could pave the way for an Indy race in Edmonton in 2011. The creative formula would include $2 million from new parking created on the City Centre Airport land year round, and $1 million from private partners.

Under this proposal, Runway 16/34 would be extended to create a track for the Indy and pavement created for the lot would operate year round for people who use NAIT or Kingsway Mall.

The city has not signed a deal with Octane yet, so the 2011 race is not confirmed. Indy Car is optimistic about the new funding but says the deal is between Edmonton and Octane.

The future of the race became uncertain in early November when the city and Octane failed to reach an agreement on who would pay for improvements to the track.