The Wiscasset Raceway, on the block in a foreclosure auction Thursday, July 12, has meant different things to different people since it first opened in 1969 as Wiscasset Speedway. At various times, it brought jobs to the area, noise and traffic to the neighborhood, and good times to race car drivers and fans.

When Danny Grover of Wiscasset was a boy, it was his father Buster Grover’s favorite place to be. The family spent a lot of time there when Buster Grover was racing. The son, who owns Grover Auto & Tire on Route 1, got to ride along as his father test-drove the track’s banks before the pavement was laid.

“My dad enjoyed it more than anything else, and we all shared it with him,” Danny Grover said. “For a lot of people, it was almost like going to church.”

He hopes that, if someone buys the property at the auction, the new owner will not tear up the 3/8-mile track. It could be the scene of racing again, “when the economy comes back,” Grover said. “There are a lot of people pulling for the speedway to stay there.” 

If someone does buy the approximately 35-acre property, for whatever purpose, the town will have a sizable chunk of money coming. Wiscasset is due $40,690 in current and back taxes for the raceway and a rental home on the site. The home is part of the package up for sale in the auction at the raceway, 274 West Alna Rd., at 1 p.m.

The Wiscasset Board of Selectmen’s Vice Chairman Ed Polewarczyk hopes the property sells. Any private lot that is not bringing in taxes adds to everyone else’s burden, he said. Plus, he would prefer the town not end up owning the raceway.

The town has liens on the raceway and home for the 2010 taxes, which, with interest and costs, total $20,822. The 2011 taxes, totaling $19,867, also remained unpaid as of July 6. If not paid, those will go into lien July 16, Town Clerk Christine Wolfe said.

The raceway is zoned rural, which in Wiscasset means no specific types of development are banned there. However, any project would need the Wiscasset Planning Board’s approval.

The site is “pretty unique” and could have a number of potential uses, Town Planner Misty Gorski said. “I think that any use that is positive for the neighborhood and the community as a whole would be a good use,” she said.

Keenan Auction Company of South Portland is handling the auction. Anyone wanting to bid will need a $25,000 deposit, increased to 10 percent of the purchase price within five days of the sale, according to the auction company’s website. The balance is due 30 days after the auction.