Daytona International Speedway's grandstands will be getting an overhaul.
International Speedway Corp. on Tuesday approved a redevelopment plan for the 54-year-old track's grandstands estimated to cost up to $400 million.
What's more, it is doing it without the aid of public funds.
“The decision was made with strong consideration of the current macroeconomic condition and a clear view for our long-term growth,” said ISC’s Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy.
“This significant private investment is a strategic use of our capital that will ensure the long-term viability of the iconic speedway, and when completed, will contribute favorably to the company's revenues, as well as to our community and the sport as a whole.”
The project will remake Daytona's frontstretch grandstands unlike any other seen in sports.
It will include expanded and redesigned fan entrances, which ISC is dubbing "injectors." Each injector will then lead to a series of escalators and elevators leading to three different concourse levels featuring open spaces and social "neighborhoods", of which there will be 11 in total.
ISC says each neighborhood will be approximately the size of a football field and will have an open view of the track as well as video screens throughout.
Wider and more comfortable seats will also be installed, while the backstretch grandstand will be removed completely, putting seating capacity at 101,000 when all is said and done, though ISC says it will have the ability to expand to 125,000. Daytona's current seating capacity is 147,000.
Construction will begin in July after the completion of events during the 2013 Coke Zero 400 weekend and is expected to be completed by January 2016.
During the construction, all major events the track annually holds will continue, including, of course, the 2014 Daytona 500.
