Panco Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, has been awarded a $797,000 contract by Spokane County to make improvements at the Spokane County Raceway, in Airway Heights.

The contract calls for Panco to realign the facility's road course and separate it from the drag strip; construct handicapped-accessible parking, seating, and walkways; and replace concrete steps in the grandstand. The engineer's estimate for the project was $750,000. The work is expected to take 90 days to complete, assuming there are no weather-related delays, says Bret Lancaster, of the county's purchasing department.

Constructing a retaining wall between the road course and the drag strip will allow both types of racing events to be held on the same day, says Cindy Gibbs, the raceway's general manager.

Changes to the 2.5-mile road course and drag strip also are needed to allow racers and staff to access the raceway office without crossing the course on race days, says Jim Black, who manages the overall facility. Due to safety concerns, the raceway couldn't run races on the road course this season, but it looks forward to having all events up and running next year, Black says.

A separate request for bids to construct a new maintenance building at the raceway has been withdrawn, says Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter, county spokeswoman.

The project has been delayed temporarily while design and permitting issues are resolved, she says. The county expects to issue a new request for bids in January or February, she says. The engineer's estimate on that project is $150,000.

Spokane County purchased Spokane Raceway Park, at 750 N. Hayford Rd., and three adjoining parcels of land totaling 314 acres, for $4.3 million in 2008. The county contracted with Fife, Wash.-based Austin Motorsports LLC to operate the raceway in December 2008, then issued a letter of default to the company in the fall of 2009, citing more than $1 million in outstanding bills from local construction contractors. In February of this year, a new operating contract was signed with raceway operators from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Chandler, Arizona.

Spokane county commissioners this year have voted to spend just over $1 million for improvements at the raceway.