The Preakness was first run on this site in 1873. It should remain here for the 21st Century.
Hundreds of jobs will be created by making this a 365-day per year model of economic and community redevelopment. They should be 21st Century jobs.
“To me, it’s magical in here. There’s something about it. I’ve been watching it since I was 10, 11 years old.
You think of Jim McKay. You think of the Preakness. There’s so much history here.”
Bob Baffert, trainer of the Triple Crown winner Justify, said that when he was here three weeks ago.
I’ve been watching horses run around the track at Pimlico since I was in elementary school. I’ve represented the surrounding neighborhoods for 36 years.
We’ve seen a lot of changes at Pimlico during that time – good and bad. And we’ve seen a lot of changes in Park Heights, but the question before us today – whether to keep the Preakness here and to redevelop the land no longer needed for racing, will be a crucial turning point for the Park Heights community.
We need a vision for Pimlico and Park Heights: economic and community redevelopment that would complement a 21st Century thoroughbred racing facility. We need a vision that would allow for the necessary upgrades at Pimlico and help fulfill longstanding promises to revitalize the Park Heights community.
We can make this vision a reality. We can make the infield a year-round facility for recreation and entertainment. The Baltimore Development Corporation has already had serious conversations with various commercial enterprises interested in the site.
“The question is, can we come up with a solution which is a win-win-win?” Frank Stronach, founder and honorary chairman of the Stronach Group, recently told the Baltimore Sun. “A win for the horse industry and a win to eliminate poverty in that area.”
What the Stadium Authority is considering for the Pimlico site and what Mayor Catherine Pugh is proposing for the Park Heights neighborhoods meet the definition of a win-win-win.
Redeveloping the track to ensure it continues as host of the Preakness Stakes is not a pie in the sky proposal. It would appeal to “anybody,” developer David Cordish said last week,
For the 21st Century School Buildings Plan, which is administered by the MSA, a memorandum of understanding requires efforts to maximize local and minority Baltimore hiring and to identify student work experiences. We must do the same here.
Two 21st Century schools, Pimlico and Arlington Elementary Middle Schools, will be reopening within a mile of the track over the next 15 months. Additional investment in these schools neighboring the track is essential.
On the eastern end of the site, LifeBridge Health expects to use its Preakness Way property as a destination campus, including an outpatient care center.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the first major-league baseball stadium to win the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award – the mark of an environmentally sound facility. We should do the same here.
“The Preakness isn’t going anywhere,” declared Governor Larry Hogan on Preakness Day. Mayor Catherine Pugh is steadfastly committed to keeping the Preakness and redeveloping Park Heights.
The Maryland Stadium Authority built Camden Yards, the “ballpark that forever changed baseball.” It can do the same for horse racing at Pimlico.
I look forward to working with the Authority and the residents here tonight in accomplishing that goal.
My written testimony at a meeting of the Maryland Stadium Authority on the future of Pimlico. 6/12/18
