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Pimlico Renovation


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#21 Nigel Tufnel

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 12:17 PM

From what I've read, $300M is the cost of renovating the current facilities.  People seem to think it might be cheaper to just demolish everything and rebuild, but that wasn't part of the study.



#22 RShack

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 12:37 PM

That's like saying a casino is going to improve an area. This is a poor area, too. I don't know how it can improve the area for locals aside from jobs which let's face it, probably won't be hiring any locals for any renovations.

 

That's why there needs to be a focus on expanding the benefit a major renovation to include a positive impact on the area... if it wasn't a poor area, that wouldn't be an issue...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#23 Mike in STL

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 01:15 PM

Well the people have to be allowed in the infield. That's what makes Preakness, Preakness.
 
Look, I want this event to remain in Baltimore if at all possible. And the city and state should pitch in for some of the costs. Just not all of them.
 
And I don't think the city is exactly blameless in this either. They've lost, or are in danger, of losing a lot of events lately.
 
Why is that?



Because the city cries poor until something comes along they want. They wanted to close 3 fire houses in the poorest neighborhoods that needed fire and EMS services most often. Not the rich neighborhoods that run the least. After the neighborhoods fought to keep them open the city settled on rotated closures, so they werent closed every day. Just hope you don't have a fire or heart attack on the wrong day.

At the same time they cry poor and call the firefighters and poor communities greedy, they magically find $10M under the couch cushion to bring the grand prix here. Hmmmm.

Rubbing elbows with the rich even though they claim to have improving the poor as their priorities. The fire house on eastern ave next to Bayview hospital was on the chopping block. Not a very busy fire house. Close to the county line. Other fire houses in close proximity. Not a bad part of town at all. But Bayview saves thousands on insurance by having a firehouse so close to their campus. Practically on it. So they closed one in a poor neighborhood on Montford Ave instead. After a spike in fire deaths in the area, they reopend it, but moved another company into it, short staffing another fire house.

So that Bayview could save $$, and the city is spineless, people lost lives.

The city is also just bad at business. The example in the other thread that they charge the $200M in revenue casino $15K for a liquor license is laughable when they want to charge $55K to locals. Why can't they charge Ceasers, probably a billion dollar company who Horsehshoe falls under, $1M a year for the license, then use it to put heating and A.C. in 20 city schools? The little bar I work at during baseball season has about 150 square feet of outdoor space for patrons to stand and for us to sell beer out of one tub. It costs $200 a day for the outdoor permit. Pickles has at least 10-15 times the outdoor space and 3 or 4 bars outdoors. You know how much their permit costs? $200 a day.

It's like If I invented a phone app and Joe blow wanted to buy it, I'd sell it for whatever is reasonable. If Mark Zuckerburg wanted to buy it, I'd start negotiations at $500M without blinking.

Instead the city makes back door deals. Draw up legislation that says casino money goes the education fund. Only to write another piece that says the education fund doesn't have to go to education if there are other needs. Like a new $80K SUV for every member of city brass. They went through 3 sets of SUVs for fire chiefs in 6 years. What the hell for? The old ones wernt broken.

God I hate politics. Sorry. Don't want you to think I'm lashing out at you. On the preakness subject, the city has to make a boatload on the alcohol tax alone for that day. I don't know how it works, but if it's how the rest of the city operates, they probably charge the same price for Union Brewing to set up a tent in the corner as they do for Kevin Plank to set up a 10,000 square foot VIP area for Tom Brady, The Rock, Donald Trump, Steve Bisciotti, and other, A-listers to hang out in.

The city is just bad at business. Simple as that.
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#24 Mike in STL

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 01:27 PM

 
I think it should be treated like other issues of public investment, like roads... either it's good for the community or it's not... doesn't matter if lots of people don't use that particular new road... either the road is good for the area or it's not...
 
I think the Preakness is good for Baltimore... the focus should be on how to improve more than just the race track... it should be on how to make rennovation trigger greater improvement in the area...



That's the key. Details of what the rennovation will mean. How the increase in revenue will be later spent. Say after the first race post-upgrades that the revenue will go into improving the surrounding areas. Period.

Instead they just say it will go into this fancy named fund for the neighboorhood, and in the fine print, they can take from the fund for personal use at their leisure. Then tell the people who wanted to see neighborhood improvement that the Preakness didn't make the money they thought it would. Wash, rinse, repeat.
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#25 NewMarketSean

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 02:37 PM

From what I've read, $300M is the cost of renovating the current facilities.  People seem to think it might be cheaper to just demolish everything and rebuild, but that wasn't part of the study.

I never said it was.

 

I'm just saying that $300 could be spent elsewhere, like on an arena, convention center or mass transit. Even schools, despite city schools getting most money per student in the state.

 

It's basically $300 mil to save the Preakness. One weekend a year.


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#26 mweb08

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 04:17 PM

There's way better things to spend the money on than a facility for a declining sport that is barely used.

#27 NewMarketSean

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Posted 02 March 2017 - 09:06 PM

There's way better things to spend the money on than a facility for a declining sport that is barely used.

Especially when there's another track twenty miles down the road.
I never had friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?

#28 Nigel Tufnel

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Posted 01 May 2023 - 01:49 PM

So now it's Laurel that could close because of how decrepit it is, and Pimlico that might host more racing.

 

Just a few years ago, the Maryland Jockey Club pushed to move the Preakness from Baltimore to Laurel Park. But soon, the track midway between Baltimore and Washington might not host any horse races at all.

 

As the racetrack owners, horsemen and the General Assembly — which recently created a state-operated racing authority — contemplate the future of Maryland horse racing, it’s Laurel Park that could be a casualty of the declining industry.

 

By now, state funds were supposed to have mostly financed renovations of both Anne Arundel County’s Laurel Park and Northwest Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. Laurel Park was envisioned as the day-to-day hub of Maryland racing. Pimlico would retain the storied, 150-year-old Preakness meet, but community events and nearby redevelopment the rest of the year would overshadow racing.

 

Those plans have been all but left in the dust, though. The state-funded $375 million in improvements approved in 2020, with a provision to keep the Preakness in Baltimore, have not left the starting gate.

 
Among the many hurdles was a realization of just how rundown Laurel Park had become. Despite The Stronach Group, the Canadian owner of the racetracks, using state subsidies in recent years primarily to improve Laurel Park and aspiring to transform it into a “super track” where it could move the Preakness, the venue is in miserable condition.
 

Rather than patching up the track, the bulk of the facility needs to be demolished and rebuilt — a costly course of action, numbering in the hundreds of millions.

 

The future of Laurel Park is “very much in question long-term,” said Alan Foreman, general counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen Association.

 

Maryland horse racing could consolidate at Pimlico, as the future of Laurel Park is ‘very much in question’ – Baltimore Sun



#29 Mackus

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Posted 01 May 2023 - 01:57 PM

I haven't been there in a couple years, but last time I was there I thought Laurel was pretty great.  Perfectly nice bar and restaurant area.  Can speak to the track or grandstands.



#30 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 01 May 2023 - 02:17 PM

The wave of legalized and convenient sports betting has almost certainly dealt another blow to horse racing. This news doesn't surprise me. What's left of the industry, in MD at least, is probably more geared towards hosting the big-name events centered around Preakness Week than in day-to-day racing. So may as well consolidate it at one track, and since the state is intent on keeping Preakness at Pimlico, that would seem to be the one that should get the investment.



#31 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 14 March 2024 - 01:56 PM

Baltimore Banner: Owner of Pimlico Race Course agrees to donate historic track to state
The owner of Pimlico Race Course has reached an agreement to donate the historic Baltimore track to the Maryland state government, allowing the state to take over operations of the storied sport of thoroughbred horse racing, officials said Thursday.





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