Louisiana officials are reconsidering negotiations with aprivate developer who planned a $100 million multi-purpose motorsports racing facility planned off Interstate 55 near Kentwood,La.

“We are concerned about the integrity of some of theprincipals,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary MichaelOlivier told The Advocate of Baton Rouge Thursday.

The secretary confirmed with the newspaper that his concern wasin regards to Jerry Lowrie, the California developer who hadnegotiated the project with the state.

Olivier did not specify to The Advocate what credentials hisdepartment were questioning, but said the project and thedeveloper’s background had not “been fully vetted.”

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and Lowrie announcedthe plan to build the track in late July, before his office hadconcluded the negotiations and research on the project, Oliviersaid.

“We felt they were very premature in their announcement,” hetold the newspaper. “We had not even gotten into activenegotiations. We had been contacted by (Louisiana) Sen. Ben Nevers,but we had never met with the principals.”

The announcement of the 42,000-seat, 1-mile oval trackTangipahoa Parish race track drew positive comments from Brookhavenand Lincoln County officials, who expected this area to benefitbecause of its proximity to the track.

“Although we were quite optimistic and excited about the track,recent allegations about the track’s developer have put quite acloud over the track’s future,” said Cliff Brumfield, executivevice president of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber ofCommerce. “It looks as if our neighbors in Louisiana are having todo a lot more due diligence on the project before they can decidewhether to move forward.”

Brumfield said financial disclosures that show how a developerwould fund and maintain a project and research on the developer’swork history are obvious tasks that should be concluded before anyformal announcement is made.

“Just as with any other large development project, all prospectsshould be considered somewhat suspect until due diligence andresearch is done to ensure any public investment is spent wisely,”he said.

Olivier said the possibility of state assistance for the projectis not dead, but the state would only move forward once “we feelmore comfortable about (the background) of the individuals who areproposing the project.”

The facility was also projected to include a quarter-mile dragstrip and drag boat racing courses, as well as serve as a venue forconcerts and other events.