Pimlico will finally get renovation

[Half Smoke]

..................


I was really surprised to learn that Pimlico will actually be renovated and revitalized as part of a $400 million dollar project
the track has been turned over to the city

there has been talk of this for at least 25 years but nothing has ever happened

now, it looks like it actually is going to happen

currently Pimlico is a very run down facility


it would be an interesting story to know how Maryland and Baltimore became so important to racing in the past

Baltimore is a smallish city compared to New York, Chicago or L.A. or Detroit in its prime

I live in Maryland and have been a patron of both Laurel and Pimlico but I don't really know how this came about

Maryland was very proud of its racing tradition - that's why the NFL team was named the Colts



https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...f65_story.html



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[dilanesp]

I wonder if how the taxpayers of Baltimore feel about this. It's basically a massive subsidy to prevent the Preakness from moving a few miles down the road.

[VeryOldMan]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I wonder if how the taxpayers of Baltimore feel about this. It's basically a massive subsidy to prevent the Preakness from moving a few miles down the road.

It's all of us Maryland taxpayers, not just Baltimore alas. The bond issuance and borrowing are at the state level.

https://www.mdpolicy.org/research/de...ico-racecourse

The big winner is Stronach Group, which gets to unload Pimlico on Baltimore and consolidate everything at Laurel other than the brief Preakness meet to be run at the "new" Pimlico.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

It's all of us Maryland taxpayers, not just Baltimore alas. The bond issuance and borrowing are at the state level.

https://www.mdpolicy.org/research/de...ico-racecourse

The big winner is Stronach Group, which gets to unload Pimlico on Baltimore and consolidate everything at Laurel other than the brief Preakness meet to be run at the "new" Pimlico.

I've never been to Pimlico.

The above article makes it seem like they should have put money into Laurel, moved the Preakness to Laurel, and used the land Pimlico is on for some other private development. It sounds like one of those deals where they are doing something everyone knows is dumb economically for political reasons.

Here's another article that talks about some of the hoped for community upsides.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/pimli...more/36388040#

[cj]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I've never been to Pimlico.

The above article makes it seem like they should have put money into Laurel, moved the Preakness to Laurel, and used the land Pimlico is on for some other private development. It sounds like one of those deals where they are doing something everyone knows is dumb economically for political reasons.

Here's another article that talks about some of the hoped for community upsides.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/pimli...more/36388040#

Yeah, I don't think there are a lot of private developers rushing in to buy the land that Pimlico is on.

The Preakness means a lot to the city of Baltimore. It wouldn't be the same at Laurel and the race would take a big hit in my opinion. It might even eventually be shipped out somewhere else.

[cj]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

It's all of us Maryland taxpayers, not just Baltimore alas. The bond issuance and borrowing are at the state level.

https://www.mdpolicy.org/research/de...ico-racecourse

The big winner is Stronach Group, which gets to unload Pimlico on Baltimore and consolidate everything at Laurel other than the brief Preakness meet to be run at the "new" Pimlico.

Taxpayers will not foot the nearly $200 million investment. Gambling and other revenues already dedicated to racing will be used to pay debt on bonds issued by the Maryland Stadium Authority.

From the article CH posted.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by cj

From the article CH posted.

Just because they use dedicated funds doesn't mean those funds don't cost the taxpayers money. Money is fungible- funds that were dedicated to one thing can be used to offset other funds.

[VeryOldMan]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Just because they use dedicated funds doesn't mean those funds don't cost the taxpayers money. Money is fungible- funds that were dedicated to one thing can be used to offset other funds.

This right here. There is nothing to prevent the legislature from changing how casino taxes are used. It's a convenient fiction that the bonds and interest are somehow already "paid for" via the existing revenue allocation and that this therefore somehow "won't cost the taxpayers". We're on the hook for the new bonds, period.

The reality is that the concept of moving the Preakness is a "third rail" in Maryland politics which nobody wants to touch. Hence the willingness to incur hundreds of millions of additional debt for this scheme.

[The_Turf_Monster]

I like Pimlico as much as anybody and parts of it are like like walking back through time. But that year Oxbow won it and I was standing almost knee deep in water with the power out trying to get a bet in was enough for me. Even if they were to run half of the Maryland season there, it’s not worth the money when Laurel is a nice facility