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Bay State Racing back in Gardner to propose racetrack: what City Council says about it

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6 months ago

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Bay State Racing back in Gardner to propose racetrack: what City Council says about it

Proposal comes a year after an unsuccessful bid to build a track on a different Rt. 140 property

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A proposal that would bring horse racing to the Chair City is back on the board.  

The Gardner City Council will take a vote at their next meeting whether to schedule a public hearing on the measure after officials at GAAMHA announced that they had entered into a contingency agreement with Bay State Racing LLC to sell its current location at 827 Green St. for $1.6 million in a private sale.

Bay State Racing officials want to transform the site, which is currently the home of GAAMHA’s Carl E. Dahl House facility, into an equestrian center for a variety of horse-related activities, including racing. The city has jurisdiction over whether to allow racing at the site, according to state law.

If passed at the city council’s July 1 meeting, the vote would be just the first step in a very long process that must take place before any races are run in the city.  A separate vote would be required to allow racing at the site. If approved, the state’s Gaming Commission would have to determine whether to grant a racing license for the site.

The item to schedule a public hearing within seven days was on the city council’s agenda on Monday, but City Councilor David Thibault-Munoz made a motion for more time to study the issue.

More: Zoning proposal that could have brought racetrack to Gardner withdrawn by City Council

“I don’t think (seven days) is enough time to gather the information surrounding the potential impact on wetlands or the potential impact on traffic,” he said.

Proposal comes a year after unsuccessful bid to rezone Rt. 140 property for racing

The measure to bring horse racing to the city comes nearly a year after a proposal to rezone a different property off of Rt. 140 for Bay State Racing was withdrawn by city councilors.

In a letter to city councilors, Mayor Michael Nicholson urged the board to authorize the city to enter into a host community agreement with Bay State Racing for the siting of a racetrack on the property. According to Bay State Racing officials, its contract with the city would generate an estimated $500,000 in new revenue per year and create several local jobs in the community.

A vote on the host community agreement would take place during a later meeting of the city council, according to Council President Elizabeth Kazinskas.

GAAMHA officials eying new property if sale is approved

Shawn Hayden, president and CEO of GAAMHA, said the sale would benefit his organization by eliminating the long-term debt it has from acquiring and developing the site, purchase a new location, and increase its number of programs.

“Our animal care facilities will also be expanded to provide increased care for the rescued and endangered livestock animals on our farm who play a vital role in the healing process for a patients and participants,” Hayden said. “We also hope to include space for increased community interaction with our program while safeguarding the privacy and dignity of the people in our care. There will be a lot of thought put into the design of the new site to consider how we can make our farm a resource for an even larger portion of our local community.”

More: Baystate Racing officials meet with public to discuss proposed racetrack

Hayden said all GAAMHA operations would continue as usual if and when they moved their facility to any new site.

“We don’t plan on going far, and we have some options on the table now,” he said. “This is a fairly complicated transaction with both parties having several milestones in place that trigger the next step in the process. There is nothing official quite yet and we have a little time left to explore any options that we become aware of, though there aren’t too many parcels that meet our needs for acreage and location.”

If the deal happened to fall through, GAAMHA would continue at its current location, Hayden added.

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