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For the second time this year, the proposed sale of Portland's Alpenrose Dairy has ignited a family feud among the family of the dairy's late founder.
But the recently announced sale of Alpenrose to Kent, Wash.-based Smith Brothers Farms also has Oregon bicycle racers fretting.
The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association says the sale of the dairy could cut off access to the velodrome—an arena for track cycling—which is on Alpenrose property, as Bike Portland reported.
Chuck Kenlan, OBRA's director, told Bike Portland that the velodrome at Alpenrose is the only one in Oregon and one of only 18 in the nation.
"We would lose our ability to host the Annual Cross Crusade weekend, the largest cyclocross race in the country," Kenlan said. "If this sale happens. The impact will be felt far and wide."
OBRA has hired a lawyer to join the lawsuit filed by siblings Carl Cadonau III, Tracey Cadonau McKinnon and Cary Cadonau—the great-great-grandchildren of Alpenrose's founder, Florian Cadonau—which says the diary's president, Rod Birkland, rejected their $7 million offer. The Oregonian first reported the lawsuit.
The Cadonau siblings also accused Birkland, who is also a cousin of the family, of seeking to shut down events at Alpenrose. In addition to the velodrome, there is a baseball field, theater and 4-H farm on the property.
In a statement, Smith Brothers Farms CEO Dustin Highland said, "Our goal is to maintain business continuity, with little to no impact on customers of both companies."
Community members concerned about the dairy's sale have raised $15,500 dollars in a crowdfunding campaign, and over 14,000 people have signed an online petition to block the sale of Alpenrose to Smith Brothers Farms.
A spokesperson for Alpenrose Dairy did not immediately respond to WW's request for comment.