I can’t believe that in this new age of online gambling, state lotteries and casinos everywhere, the state of Maryland wants to borrow $400 million to rebuild Pimlico Race Course for a nearly dead 20th-century sport.
I think the telling information is that the current owners want to give the place to the state. Obviously, they see no commercial potential there. Why not tear it down after this next Preakness, and redevelop the site as was done with Memorial Stadium?
This could become a new mixed-use neighborhood, with room for Sinai Hospital expansion, lots of snazzy new housing and stores and offices. That would help rejuvenate the neighborhood where I was born, on the south side of the track, with year-round lasting benefit for all.
Very few people want to attend a horse race anymore. The horses are dying on the tracks and the sport is all but dead too. Let it go!
— Larry Carson, Columbia
