Speed Bowl Park new home of auto salvage business

STERLING – A small fleet of inoperable vehicles at Speed Bowl Park, on state Route 2 west of town, are there legally, and in fact belong to a business that is moving to the site.

The property, which for now is owned by Greater Sterling Development Corp., is zoned I-2, for heavy industrial use, which means storing vehicles there is allowed, Whiteside County Zoning Administrator Stuart Richter said.

Curtis Poff III, 28, of Sterling, owns CP's Demolition, which does vehicle and building salvage. He's a tenant of the development agency who has been operating the race track for the last 2 years, holding mud bog races, demolition derbies and other similar events.

He also is in the process of relocating his business, now on a lot on West Second Street across from the Sterling Township office, to the site, he said.

Although not required to, Poff also has obtained a permit and is building a fence around the vehicles, Richter said.

The rainy winter has made it difficult to build the fence, because the park is so muddy, but as soon as the ground dries sufficiently, it's going up, Poff said Wednesday.

The site actually is a perfect fit for his twin operations.

Most of the 2 dozen or so cars being stored there are demolition derby vehicles, or are for parts for derby vehicles, and the rest are in the process of being salvaged, he said.

The property will provide considerably more room for his salvage business, although he does not foresee many more vehicles being stored there.

"We're not going to have a junkyard there, and I'm putting up a new building," Poff said.

Call Poff at 815-631-8750 for more information on either business.