What’s Around the Bend for Pimlico?

February 6, 2023 Michael Olesker

Last week, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $14.3 million contract to begin Pimlico’s demolition and reconstruction. (File photo)

The last time I went to Pimlico Race Course, for the 144th running of the Preakness Stakes, War of Will crossed the finish line with 131,256 fans issuing cries of delight for their brand new money.

But the most heartfelt cheer that day, nearly four years ago, came when a small plane flew directly over the track carrying a banner that read, “Stronach Keep Preakness in Baltimore.”

And here we are, after all this time, owner Stronach or otherwise, and we’re still wondering if anybody in charge can yet hold together the shaky ties between the aging Pimlico and its historic Preakness Stakes.

The odds feel like they’re getting longer.

As The Sun reported Sunday, Feb. 5, we’re now three years since the state approved $375 million in public financing to break down and rebuild the Pimlico grandstand, and maybe bring some classy new shops and meeting rooms and a library to the property, and boil down the actual racing season there to a single Preakness Stakes weekend.

Laurel Park would get the vast number of Maryland racing dates, but Pimlico would hold onto its heart and soul.

Three years ago, we were told the job would be done by now. Instead, nothing’s happened, except successive rounds of excuses. There was COVID. Construction costs have gone up, and so have interest rates. Renovations will cost more than anticipated. There are ownership questions about Laurel Park, which is tied to the deal. And as Pimlico has gotten older over the past three years, its needs have gotten costlier.

“It’s gotten very complicated,” Alan M. Foreman, general counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, told The Sun’s Hayes Gardner.

We’ll leave those complicated details to others since none of the details previously laid out have panned out.

Everybody’s intentions are still positive. But when they were first laid out, I went to a former member of the Maryland Racing Commission whose love for the racing game is matched by his financial and geographical perspective.

“Strictly a long shot,” he said sadly of plans. “They’re saying Pimlico needs about $400 million in renovations. Hell, the entire Baltimore city budget is only $3 billion. Would you invest $400 million in a dying industry?”

Defenders of thoroughbred horse racing don’t describe their sport in such depressing terms. They point out that while track in-house attendance is bleak, various forms of online betting have blossomed in the modern era.

The Stronach people knew that when they purchased tracks at various locations around the country, including Pimlico.

But they’ve never been happy with Pimlico’s physical plant. The year War of Will took the Preakness, the Stronachs declared thousands of seats unusable just days before the race. That Saturday, bathrooms were so dysfunctional that lines outside women’s lavatories looked like Depression-era food lines.

And we haven’t even mentioned nearby Park Heights Avenue, pockmarked for decades by scores of abandoned homes, drug trafficking and gunplay, and a succession of mayors who have promised great improvements but consistently come up short.

If they can bring the racetrack back to life, maybe the fallout could brighten the surrounding lower Park Heights area. That’s the hope. But it begs the original question: Do we still believe a new day is coming for the track, or have we been listening to empty words?

Michael Olesker’s latest book, “Boogie: Life on A Merry-Go-Round,” was recently published by Apprentice House. It’s the life story of Baltimore legend Leonard “Boogie” Weinglass, an original “Diner” guy who grew up to create the Merry-Go-Round clothing chain and contribute millions to charity.