Lawmakers in Maryland are debating bills in both houses of the legislature that would authorize $389 million in state funding for major renovations of its two storied racetracks, Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park.
Slightly different versions of the legislation, called the Racing and Community Development Act, have been introduced in each chamber of the legislature. The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee will be first to debate the legislation.
Under the legislation, Laurel Park would be renovated from 2021 to 2023, during which time all races would be conducted at Baltimore’s Pimlico track. According to a summary of the legislation published by the Baltimore Sun, improvements would include new track surfaces, a new clubhouse improved stables and better housing for track workers.
Pimlico would be overhauled from 2023 to 2024, the report said. It would be renovated into a multi-use facility for youth sports, festivals and other special events, with a racing schedule every spring centered around the Preakness Stakes.
Pimlico’s grandstand would be demolished and replaced with a smaller structure, and temporary seating would be added to handle the attendance during Preakness week. The racetrack itself would be rotated 30 degrees in order to create nine parcels of land that could be sold for private development, and new barns for horses would be constructed.
The $389 million in improvements to the two tracks are part of an agreement between Stronach Group, which owns the tracks, Maryland horsemen and the city of Baltimore to permanently keep the Preakness in Baltimore.
Under the bill, the Maryland Jockey Club (also owned by Stronach Group) would be required to have at least 180 racing days each year between the two tracks, and the idle Bowie Training Center, which Stronach Group acquired along with the two tracks, would be turned into a park. The House version of the bill creates a task force to study the project.
The bill provides that the project would be funded through bonds to be repaid over 40 years by the Maryland Lottery, using revenues from slot machines at the casinos that would otherwise go to race purses and to the Racetrack Facility Renewal Account, used for track construction.
