By RICH BERGERON

Staff Writer

LACONIA — The United States Classic Racing Association’s Vintage Motorcycle Weekend may be held this year after all — in downtown Laconia.

A group supporting the idea is scheduled to discuss the idea with the City Council at its meeting Monday.

If all goes well for event planners, some of the same motorcycles that ran in the first races will be cruising the streets of downtown Laconia for the event, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 13. The event is expected to feature some riders over 70 years old and one 80-year-old who all ride the same bikes they did in their heyday, dating all the way back to the 1940s.

Several streets would be closed off for the event, and Black Cat Cafe owner Kinney O’Rourke said that he will list which streets would be part of the shut-down for the event at Monday’s meeting. Police Chief Tom Oetinger, Fire Chief Ken Erickson, and Public Works Director Doug Sargent all have serious concerns about the amount of time they have to prepare. Their other main concern is public safety.

Gunstock Recreation Area officials announced that they would not host the event this year, due to logistical difficulties and poor turnout.

Oetinger told the Police Commission on Thursday he was concerned about how much it would cost to pay officers to man the various traffic posts that would be required and also whether he would have enough officers to work the posts.

He explained that Sunday is typically a day when the department gives officers a day off so it can have them come in fresh the following week.

The races could tie up police resources for a considerable length of time, Oetinger said, while Lt. John MacLennan pointed out that "road racing is against the law in New Hampshire" and that city speed limits must also be obeyed.

O’Rourke observed that there have been other events similar to this one held in the downtown area. Mini Indy Car races were held in the 1990s downtown. The Sunday races are part of a range of events planned for the area during Motorcycle Week. The slow race planned for noon on Thursday, June 10, pits riders against each other in an elimination challenge to see who can ride the slowest without putting their feet on the ground. From noon to 4 p.m. on the same day, a custom motorcycle show will go on at the train station. There will also be a custom motorcycle show at Opechee Park on Saturday, June 12.

"There’s been a lot of interest over the last several years in trying to bring part of this rally activity into the downtown area," said O’Rourke Thursday. He pointed out that it would be nice to see some more events happen in downtown and take some pressure off the Weirs. He called the downtown area, "an environment that may seem less difficult."

Charlie St. Clair, of the Laconia Rally and Race Association, was very excited Thursday about the possibility of the vintage cycles rolling through downtown.

"If there’s a chance to keep this thing alive, then I say wonderful. A lot of people come specifically for that event," St. Clair said. He noted that the event would be free to the public thanks to Bob Coy, the event’s coordinator and director.

Coy, director of the United States Classic Racing Association, is a retired schoolteacher who is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. He has raced all over the United States and even in some foreign countries.

"Promoter Bob Coy is a class act," said St. Clair, "Whatever he does, he does it right, this is his business. This is his life and joy, and he loves it."

If the issues with the town departments involved can be cleared up, St. Clair hopes three to four thousand people will make it to the event.