A lesson? Hastings businessman compares his venture to State Fair move

Hastings businessman George Anderson told Grand Island Rotarians many people were skeptics about his dreams of building a race track just east of his hometown.

"Now those people are coming up and shaking my hand," Anderson said following his address Tuesday to the Grand Island Rotary Club.

There is a lesson there for proponents of bringing the Nebraska State Fair to Grand Island, Anderson said. Although there are skeptics, Grand Island has the ability to bring the Nebraska State Fair and make it a successful event.

"Yeah, there is a lot of risk," said Anderson, following the meeting.

He admitted he does not know how Grand Island will work through all the various issues, but he believes that can be done.

During his address, Anderson said he went to Lincoln to testify on Grand Island's behalf for getting the State Fair.

He said Dee Haussler of the Hastings Economic Development Corporation wrote a letter that expressed its support for moving the fair to Grand Island. Anderson predicted such Grand Island/Hastings cooperation will become routine.

"The two communities will work together closer than we've ever dreamed," he said.

Anderson said his great-grandfather moved to Hastings, where he founded Western Land Roller Co.

Anderson graduated from Hastings High School in 1967 and attended the University of Nebraska before enlisting in the U.S. military.

He returned to the University of Nebraska to complete his degree. He eventually worked for Ingersoll-Rand after the corporation purchased Western Land Roller.

His Ingersoll-Rand career took him to Pennsylvania, but he returned in 1991 to Hastings, where he purchased Gessford Machine Co., which builds engines for diesel trucks, tractors, and irrigation units and also offers industrial machine services.

Anderson, though, talked most how Gessford Machines builds engines for installation into the Shelby Cobra rolling chassis that is built in Las Vegas.

Gessford Motor Works then installs those engines into the rolling chassis. Anderson said finished vehicles can sell for $160,000, $170,000, $180,000 or more.

Anderson, who serves on a number of public and civic boards in Hastings, said he needed a track on which to drive those speedy cars.

"I didn't want to get in trouble driving," he said.

That's how Anderson came up with the idea of building Motorsports Park Hastings or MPH track in Hastings.

To build the track, Anderson needed tire walls. But when he told Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality that it should be glad that he planned to employ 15,000 used tires for his walls, he got a surprise.

He said DEQ officials told him state law only allowed 500 tires in any one location, because of concerns about the eventual need to get rid of the tires

He said State Sen. Carroll Burling helped pass LB818, which changed the law to allow him to install the tire walls. During Tuesday's meeting, he also thanked State Sen. Ray Aguilar for helping get the legislation approved.

Today, MPH is a 2.15-mile asphalt road course track that hosts motorcycle and car races and events. The track also hosts driving schools.

Anderson wanted to build residential units where people could live during the weekends of races and events. He was told no residential units could go up in an industrial zone.

Anderson said he came up with the idea of a new zoning category, "res/-industrial."

Today, the track has eight units called "The Garages," which Anderson described as race condos. Ground-floor garages have room for three to six cars, and upper level apartments have two to five bedrooms, kitchens and other amenities.

Anderson said owners use race condos like many people use lake homes -- living in them one or two weekends per month when they attend track events.