Saw this on BH site the other day, and I am wondering, seriously, what it means for the old track. On one hand, they say that the basic structure can be salvaged, and rebuilt. OTOH, the owners, The Stronach Group, seem to be saying “that’s nice. YOU pay for it”, which I do not see Maryland or Baltimore necessarily doing. Does this mean that they purchased Laurel just to watch Pimlico go down? Thoughts?
I like horses. I like horse racing. I’ve lived a hour & a half from Baltimore for 10 years and haven’t been to Pimlico or Laurel.
On one hand I could say “The state/city/county has invested millions in sports facilities over the years, they should support horse racing just because I hate football.”
On the other hand, I think that public financing of sports venues that primarily serve privately owned sports teams is ridiculous and have consistently opposed it.
In general, I think things like this are ideally funded by Gofundme pages. Those who want it can pay for it. Those who don’t care or oppose it, don’t fund it. I would love to see this done for all sports venues.
I have lived within a couple of hours of both Pimlico and Laurel forever, and have only visited Pimlico once- last year. I was shocked by the dilapidated condition of the clubhouse. I am sure that many think that it is quaint, and it is, but for commercial use? Not really practical.
I don’t think that crowd funding 300 million is realistic, but I’d like to be proven wrong!
However, I am one of those people who loves history, and ceremony, and the idea of it being torn down bothers me. I’d hate to think that Stronach bought it just to tear it down, eventually, and make it into a development, or sell it for that purpose, but I am leaning towards believing that is the case. Very, very sad.
I think the grandstand/clubhouse was built in 1960, so not much history there. It may be kind of superimposed on some older structures, and it’s not pretty. The “old” clubhouse burned down. No one would want to live in that neighborhood, so no residential development potential. IF it goes ahead as any kind of facility, it will be multi use. I predict the Preakness will be run at Laurel in the next couple years. They are closing the stable area at Pimlico after the Preakness this year.
Bearing in mind all the sales taxes that are paid to state/local governments by the public that attends those events along with all the local businesses… restaurants, hotels, etc that also make $$ on publicly attended sporting events.
Expecting publicly crowd funding to pay for a multi-multi-million dollar facility that benefits far more than just the “public” is, IMO, maybe a bit short sighted.
MD has only allocated 12 days of racing at Pimilico in 2017. If safety is an issue, why?
If I were a fan, I be skeptical about attending any event there. Preakness weekend is biggest fan turnout for that track annually and if anything is going to crumble that would be the time.
Probably the safest area is the infield. Your chances of seeing the racing is slim but your chance of surviving injury or death is better.
it is amazing to me that this issue has gotten to this point. Conversation on this topic has been going for ages.
Sports stadiums are generally financial black holes, despite what their supporters (often team owners or fans who benefit directly) proclaim. Very few studies show that the millions pumped into venues by local and regional governments are really recovered.
I think crowd funding is perfect for these these things. The local football franchise (or racetrack) wants new facilities - have them pay for it. If they can’t convince their die-hard fans to pony up $$$ for a facility, then the taxpayers should not have to.
The baseball team local to me just got a deal with the county to finance their new stadium. They have been trying for several years to get private backers. If it was such a sweet deal, they would have been able to get private investors.
I did the math for the local stadium, it costs ~$8700/seat. I don’t think that is a huge amount to pay, considering season tickets are $1K. Presuming the owners should put up part of it, say $400 by 10K fans. If they can’t find that many people, maybe the team really isn’t needed or that beloved.
If the Stronachs want to pay for renovations to Pimlico, great. Baltimore in particular has much more pressing financial issues than a decaying race track. $300M would repair/replace a lot of lead-laden low income housing.
In recent times, Pimlico lost power at the Preakness on a very unusualy HOT Preakness day. So no air conditioning inside the plant. A couple years ago there were plumbing problems and the main ladies’ room was out of order just about the entire day. It’s crumbling. Probably one of the reason hats are worn.
They aren’t running a shortened meet due to safety concerns, they are doing it as a boutique meet around the Preakness. The plumbing problems were actually a water main break off property nearby. Hard to blame MJC for that. I am not saying it doesn’t need fixing up, obviously it does.
Nice article. You may recall that last year very positive reports were being published about MD racing, yet this report is anything but promising. Old Hilltop plumbing issues aside, boutique meets being planned, and a neighborhood with a downtrodden past and hopeless future, MD promising future along with NY facility concerns poses questions for the final two legs of the TC. It looks like Laurel is the last hope, but from any sensible human beings perspective MD is once again adopting a one step forward two steps back approach to investing a lot of money that won’t make their industry much better off and the taxpayers won’t see a return on before man walks on Mars, if ever.
Lucky for MD that VA is right next door and we have been paying MD to keep our industry afloat for decades. I am sure if MD threw in a couple of more days of VA stakes racing beyond our derby the VRC would throw some VA taxpayer money at MD renovation. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that NY is feasting off the VRC budget also.
I think I read a post that indicated Texarkana is moving to MD. You two should get together. I think there are business opportunities available with this issue for a couple very smart ladies. You could start selling ownership silk colored safety helmets outside the tracks to fans. The way the industry is headed it could be the beginnings of a national franchise. Off the top of my head, I can think of, at least, six tracks on the East Coast that fan demand might be high.:winkgrin:
An excellent idea, SD, thank you! We will make fascinator versions, too, for the big stakes stakes day. It’s sad, what has become of things.
Very insightful, knowledgeable and informative post above.
It really would be great to see them get Bowie going again, even as a training center. Even defunct it still has some charm to it, imo, and is in an o.k. neighborhood. I was never there when they were racing but I get the feeling it was a nice enough place.
Pimllico is not closing for training after the Preakness this year.
Shammy, not sure what you mean about Virginia racing? My understanding is that Virginia’s only racetrack, Colonial Downs, failed miserable and closed. I certainly don’t think MD “needs” VA at all to have a thriving racing industry.
I guess MJC pays for the barn area upkeep/track maintenance at Pimlico? Do they have the backstretch open all year? Do you have to pay for stall? I guess those there ship to Laurel to race or do they ship to out of state, too? Just wondering, thanks.
"was shocked by the dilapidated condition of the clubhouse.
I’m sure you are right, just wanted to say how I always thought it looked like a pretty place on TV.! Just goes to show you, eh?
I can see why many would not understand my ribald comments. It is one of those things that if you were not there you wouldn’t get the intended humor.
I apologize for the digression and confusion.
The historic racing relationship between VA and MD dates to colonial times. You might not be aware that modern parimutuel racing in VA began at Colonial Downs in1997 with the Maryland Jockey Club being paid by the VRC and track to run the operation. From there begins the inside joke. VA now pays the MJC to maintain our VA Derby under the name Commonwealth Derby, because VA has no established facilities. This is too complicated to pursue in a post but there is a COTH racing thread VA’s Troubled Racing that is replete with info.
As for the situation with Pimilico any chance of renovation seems remote. I recently read that backstretch buildings have safety issues also. The idea of using it for training is also problematic. I say this because Stronach does not appear to be interested in investing back big bucks in Old Hilltop without a high return on his money. Baltimore and MJC don’t have the finances and the state legislature doesn’t have will.
" Baltimore and MJC don’t have the finances and the state legislature doesn’t have will."
This is where public/private partnerships work, if done correctly.
I am on the backstretch of Pimlico several days a week and it definitely has many issues. I think it will limp along for now until there is a plan in place. The community working there is thriving and committed. Many of them had previously been at Bowie.
Thank you for explaining the Virginia humor, not I get it! LOL
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that NY is feasting off the VRC budget also.