With financing in place, Belmont Park reconstruction planning hits high gear
?q=100)
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though the funding mechanism is now in place to construct a new Belmont Park, there is still much to be learned about the project. When could construction begin, what does it entail, and what will it look like when it’s done?
Some answers could be forthcoming as early as August when the New York Racing Association hopes to reveal plans to the Franchise Oversight Board, a monitoring body put in place years ago by the state to oversee NYRA’s business practices.
In the latest state budget, passed in May, the New York legislature approved, and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed, a measure to loan $455 million to NYRA to construct a new Belmont Park. To accommodate the current climate, the building will be between 250,000 and 300,000 square feet and will have seating for approximately 9,000, according to NYRA president and CEO Dave O’Rourke. The current building, opened in 1968, is 1.3 million square feet and has seating capacity for 33,000.
O’Rourke said the new Belmont will be able to accommodate thousands more fans with ample outdoor space that can be transformed into covered areas, under high-end tents, for big events such as the Belmont Stakes and potentially a Breeders’ Cup. The last Breeders’ Cup to be held in New York was in 2005 when the event consisted of eight races run on one day. There are now 14 Breeders’ Cup races run over two days.
“We’re really focused on how do we scale-up for big event days and how do we bring the plant back down for typical Saturdays,” O’Rourke said in a recent interview. “And on a typical Saturday, a lot of the focus is on the green space.”
O’Rourke said he spent much of Memorial Day weekend walking around the Belmont backyard and the picnic area on the apron to get an idea of how the plant, in its current state, is being used by patrons. Since the completion of the UBS Arena two years ago, a large chunk of the backyard was lost.
“We have very limited green space,” O’Rourke said. “During [Memorial Day] weekend everything green was packed and the big building was the big building. Who wants to be inside on a day like that? That was very encouraging in the direction we’re going.”
The additional outdoor space will ultimately include use of the infield for not only racegoers, but perhaps community events, and perhaps social functions such as weddings.
“There is not a lot of outdoor event space in this area, and weddings, all sorts of different events can work with this type of a facility and that’s part of our master planning process,” O’Rourke said. “What other things that complement racing can we use the facility for?”
O’Rourke said he’d like to believe more outdoor space could attract more families to Belmont and potentially help create the next generation of racing fans.
“When you’re in Saratoga and you have the backyard, my experience is that it’s an incubator for fans of the sport,” O’Rourke said. “I’ve met more people that love racing that grew up going to the backyard at Saratoga than probably anywhere else. This would not be the same thing but targeted to a similar audience. . . . I want to turn it into a park, a place to bring families and kids out.”
To build a new Belmont Park, the current one must come down. O’Rourke said in the coming months he hopes to have a timetable when demolition could begin and what that could mean for future runnings of the Belmont Stakes and future Belmont spring meets. Beginning last year, and for the foreseeable future, Belmont’s fall dates will be held at Aqueduct.
Possibilities for future springs include running the Belmont Stakes here in 2024 before tearing the building down. Under that scenario, immediately after the Belmont, racing could move to Aqueduct for about one month before the Saratoga meet. It also is possible part of the building could be taken down before next year’s Belmont.
O’Rourke said he also has thought about the possibility of conducting a Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.
“Part of me would love to try it at Saratoga, I just think it would be a unique thing,” O’Rourke said. “I think it would drive a ton of activity up there. It might set some benchmarks that would be tough to ever beat. It would be such a cool event. Everybody I know would want to be there.”
In planning for the future, O’Rourke said everything has to be on the table. With a project like this, is it three years, four years, or five years? I believe we need to push our way to daylight, the sooner the better, but that is a board decision.”
A new Belmont building, which would include a sports bar/wagering center and a food court as well as other yet-to-be defined amenities, is only part of the redevelopment of Belmont.
NYRA is planning to renovate its three current surfaces – resodding and widening its two turf courses and refurbishing the main track – and installing a Tapeta track. The outline for the Tapeta surface is the gray area that can be seen by those who attend or watch Belmont’s races on television.
O’Rourke said the Tapeta track should be installed by the end of this year and could be used in the spring of 2024 for off-the-turf races. Ultimately, it could serve as the primary winter surface when, eventually, all downstate racing is conducted at Belmont and Aqueduct will be closed.
Following the 2024 spring meet, the outer turf course and the 1 1/2-mile main track will be renovated.
:: DRF Belmont Stakes Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more.
O’Rourke said that money NYRA receives from the Aqueduct casino is financing the track renovations, meaning the $455 million loan is being used for the new building.
O’Rourke pointed out that NYRA has the benefit of having two of the state’s most prominent builders – Marc Holliday and Michael Dubb – on its board of directors.
“We have really qualified folks on the board who have dealt with projects like this and know how to work with budgets, who I’m going to learn a ton from,” O’Rourke said. “I’m confident the project will fit the budget.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.