Grand Prix

Wasn't it just last year that firefighters and police officers had their hours reduced because of a lack of city funds ? Wasn't there talk of closing some of the city's summer places for children? So how is there so much money available for the mayor's VoIP project, for IndyCar races that cost the city millions and for bailing out the Senator Theatre ? How much benefit do the citizens of Baltimore gain from any one of these? Anne Hackney

The time has come for Baltimore to enjoy a well-earned victory lap. Attending the Grand Prix of Baltimore over Labor Day weekend, I and tens of thousands of other spectators at the Inner Harbor shared in a world-class entertainment experience. With Sunday's announcement that the race will return for a third year, I urge everyone in the Greater Baltimore area to consider what a profoundly positive statement the Grand Prix makes on behalf of our region. Very few cities anywhere in the world are capable of hosting an event of this scope and scale.

IndyCar announced Sunday night that it will return to Baltimore for a third year. While the city made a five-year commitment to host an IndyCar race, the 2013 race wasn't assured until Tuesday. That's when J.P. Grant , the financier who formed Race On LLC and took over operations of the second Grand Prix of Baltimore about 100 days before the event, reached an agreement on a sanctioning fee with IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard to again hold the race the Sunday before Labor Day. IndyCar's schedule includes 19 races over 16 weekends; three road courses, not including Baltimore, are each hosting two full-length IndyCar races in one weekend.

What: Howard Community College Grand Prix When: Saturday, Sept. 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Where: Marama Farm, 5610 Chamblis Drive, Clarksville Tickets: $10 for the lawn (children 10 and under free); adult bleacher seats $15, children bleachers $8; tent seats $200; box seats $250. Raffle tickets for a car are $100 each or three for $250. More information: Call 443 518-1970 or go to http://www.hccgrandprix.com..

The national TV audience for the Grand Prix of Baltimore declined by about a fifth from last year's inaugural event, according to Nielsen Media data released Friday. Last year, a total of about 1.35 million viewers watched telecasts of Labor Day weekend racing in Baltimore on NBC's Versus cable channel and the ABC network. This year, the number of viewers was about 1.07 million on the NBC Sports Network channel and ABC, representing a 21 percent drop. (Versus was renamed NBC Sports Network channel in January by the Comcast-owned broadcast company.)

I woke up Labor Day morning after Baltimore's IndyCar race and opened the paper thinking I'd see great headlines and stories about what a fantastic party and sports spectacle we hosted, especially given there was so little time to properly prepare for it ("After Grand Prix of Baltimore, crews hustle to clear downtown streets," Sept. 3). Instead, what I read was negativity from the first paragraph: "A sloppy race full of fits and starts before a diminished crowd. " Well, if it was diminished, the people crammed into the stands around us didn't realize that - and these were people from around the country who came to Baltimore just to see this race.

As the dust settles and rain washes away the last vestiges of this year's Baltimore Grand Prix, I hope everyone reflects on the past few days in a way that allows them to see the potential and excitement of this event, rather than spend time complaining about what went wrong ("After Grand Prix, crews hustle to clear streets," Sept. 4). I moved to Baltimore from Paris, France, in 1998, and I'm originally from Montreal, Canada, a city that hosts its own Grand Prix (albeit of the Formula 1 kind)

This summer, the citizens of Baltimore and the surrounding region have experienced two special multi-million-dollar events that consumed the Inner Harbor area for days. Each one took a lot of planning and cooperation. Each one was entertaining for those who attended. Local newspaper and TV coverage was full of both. National and international media paid attention to both. Thousands of photos have and will appear on Facebook and Flickr and be e-mailed. YouTube videos will continue to be posted all year.

In an about-face, the organizers of the Grand Prix of Baltimore say they will release ticket-sales information for the Labor Day weekend event. J.P. Grant , a partner in the firm that put on the race, said Thursday the group also will commission an economic impact study. He said he decided such information is valuable for the public - and the business itself - to see. "More information is better than less," said Grant, the money-man behind Race On LLC, who swept in to salvage the racing festival three months ago. "This is our baseline year.

Wondering how many tickets were sold to this year's Grand Prix of Baltimore?  Curious as to how the economic benefits of this city-subsidized event compare to last year's inaugural race? Well, you're going to have to just keep wondering.  Race On, the organizers of this year's race, announced yesterday it will not release the number of tickets sold to the three day festival.  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration, which provided about $800,000 in city services to support the race and spent $7 million last year preparing downtown streets to serve as a race course, is not commissioning a study of the economic impact of this year's race.  Last year's "study confirmed what we know is an undisputed fact and that is the event has a significant positive economic impact," her spokesman Ryan O'Doherty said.