Event officials announced
today that they will hold their last event at Pheasant Run in 2012 and introduce
an updated event in Champaign County in 2013—Bloomington Gold’s 40th Anniversary.
“Although it will be hard
to beat the beautiful fairways of Pheasant Run, input from Corvette owning
customers wanted more opportunity for socializing and driving events as part of
the entire Corvette show experience. It
needed to become more dynamic”, said Bloomington Gold CEO, David Burroughs.
He continued, “Our
customers own Corvettes because they are fun to drive. So, we needed a venue that not only served
our exhibitors and customers who buy/sell and certify Corvettes, but also a
venue that makes it easy and fun to navigate to/from and around the community
before, during, and after the show.
Therefore, we needed a small town atmosphere with big town hotels, great
facilities, and quick escape routes to miles of country roads. Champaign, IL
has the smaller town atmosphere and the University of Illinois Assembly Hall
grounds have everything else.”
“This multi-day event
creates millions in economic impact and showcases Champaign County
on a national and international level,” said Jayne
DeLuce President & CEO of the Champaign County Convention
and Visitors Bureau. “We are excited to
bring an event of this magnitude here.”
Begun in 1973, in Bloomington (50 miles northwest of Champaign), Bloomington Gold is not only the longest running national Corvette event but also is
noted for innovations that have been commonly copied by many other automotive
events. Corvette auctions, swap meets,
Certification, SURVIVOR®, educational seminars, and special museum-type
displays all began at Bloomington Gold.
But what “lit the tires” for most Corvette enthusiasts were the awesome
road tours when Bloomington Gold was located in Central
Illinois. One of those
tours is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest continual road
tour of 2,223 Corvettes. That record
still stands. A feat simply not
practical in the Chicagoland area.
“Even
Corvette owners know we don't always do things by the books in Champaign, but for Guinness we'll make an
exception," noted Champaign Mayor Don Gerard
in regard to an impending World Record. “Downtown Champaign will be the final destination for
the Bloomington Gold Road Tour and we'll have food, entertainment and a whole
lot of fun waiting for the Cavalcade of Corvettes."
The event will begin with
educational seminars on Thursday, June 27 and the Corvette show will run Friday
and Saturday. The SURVIVOR®
Collector Car event will follow on Sunday, June 30. It is America’s only car event devoted
exclusively to un-restored original collector cars of all makes and
models. 2013 will mark the sixth year
for the SURVIVOR Collector Car event. Visit www.bloomingtongold.com for more information.
