ONTARIO: Middle East investors look toward Fort Erie

Local News

October 17, 2008

By Don Glynn<br><a href="mailto:glynnd@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Don</a> The Niagara Gazette Fri Oct 17, 2008, 11:51 PM EDT

FORT ERIE, Ont. – An investor group led by a Kuwaiti bank is planning to spend upwards of $200 million to construct a major motor-sport speedway and commercial complex in this border community.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin, who recently returned from a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, said the investment consortium is spearheaded by Bayt Al Mal Investments, a Kuwaiti Islamic investment bank.

The mayor announced that Bayt Al Mal had options to buy a 620-acre site along the west side of the Queen Elizabeth Way, farmland between Gilmore and Bowen roads.

Martin was accompanied on the overseas trip by Jim Thibert, general manager of the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corp., and Sandra Pupatello, provincial minister of economic development and trade.

While the proposed track would be suitable for a NASCAR event, that organization has not expressed any interest in using the track.

The track would be within minutes of the Peace Bridge which links Buffalo and

Fort Erie.

Contact reporter Don Glynn

at 282-2311, ext. 2246.

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