Long before Dick Duchossois decided on Monday to close Arlington International Racecourse, many of his business neighbors saw the tell-tale signs of problems ahead.
As his parking lots became less full, so did theirs. While he struggled, they, too, barely hung on.
Critics may be deciding if Duchossois is bluffing about closing the village’s 70-year-old icon. But Arlington Heights business leaders have been resigned to losing their local powerhouse ever since Duchossois last threatened, in 1994, to close the track.
Demetrios Demarakis, owner of Jimmy D’s Bar just across the street from the track, is friendly with Duchossois. He says this time, the track owner means it when he insists he can no longer stay open. “I can see every year they make less money,” Demarakis said. “They’re just barely surviving.”
Not everybody is as concerned about the possibility of the track closing.
Some business owners say a closing would have little impact because the percentage of their business from the track is already minimal.
Edward Doherty, president of The Bricton Group Inc., a Park Ridge company that manages the Ramada Inn Hotel near the track, said less than 5 percent of the hotel’s business comes from the track.
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Others say the track’s closing won’t be as devastating to the community as some might think.
“Arlington Heights does like its racecourse, but it’s not the economic panacea that some people like to say it is,” said Phil Crusius, chairman of Concerned Citizens for Self-Determination, a grass-roots Arlington Heights citizens group that has fought to prevent casinos and slot machines at the track.
“Arlington Heights would survive just fine and even prosper without it,” he said.
As much as the village has welcomed the racecourse, the mayor and trustees stopped short of promoting slot machines as a solution to a weakened betting climate.
“I’m disheartened. We had a jewel in our community. They asked us for support and it was denied by the village,” said Dee Bigham, executive manager of the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce. “All of those intangible supports for the business community are going to be gone. It will never be the same again.”
Bigham says the Village Board sealed the track’s fate by opposing expanded gambling there in a May resolution, even though the idea of casino-style gambling was narrowly approved in a 1995 advisory referendum. Village President Arlene Mulder instead points to the state legislature, saying property tax relief for the track and a new purse structure must come from Springfield.
“It is a real sad day for many people and a great loss to the village,” Mulder said.
If Duchossois cannot find a remedy for his sagging enterprise, it will not be just small businesses that are affected. The track provides a venue for fundraisers, pours charity money into local not-for-profit groups and remains a tax backbone for school districts, parks and the village.
Arlington pumps roughly $1.4 million in taxes into the village budget, including roughly $500,000 in property taxes plus sales, admission, hotel and other taxes, Mulder said. To Palatine Elementary District 15, the track paid $1.8 million in property taxes, said George Lingel, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.
The village returns roughly half of the $500,000 it collects in property taxes, honoring a promise to keep taxes at the level they were before the track’s devastating fire in 1985. But other taxing bodies have not followed suit, and Lingel worries Duchossois will seek tax relief that will “burden the rest of the tax base . . . businesses and homeowners.”
That could mean service cuts or higher taxes, although the village tried to attract new businesses as track business dwindled, Mulder said.
Clearbrook, a not-for-profit Rolling Meadows group that helps people with disabilities, would have to find another venue for its Day at the Races fundraiser. The Arlington Heights Senior Center and Catholic Charities Northwest, based in Arlington Heights, would no longer count on donations from the track’s charitable arm.
Some business owners said Duchossois has no other choice but to shut down racing because the fast action of casino gambling and off-track betting parlors grabbed customers from the Sport of Kings.
Kathy Pietruszka of Rolling Meadows is a waitress at Rapp’s Restaurant near the track, and she owns a cigar shop in Arlington Heights. “It’s a drawing point for the community,” she said. “We’ll miss it. But off-track betting and boats–that stuff hurts.”
Even for businesses that saw it coming, there’s still hope the track will remain open.
When Jimmy and Mary Lou Stevens opened Jimmy’s Place restaurant 38 years ago, the track was one of their favorite neighbors. It remains so today.
The tiny restaurant and bar, at 640 W. Northwest Highway just blocks from the track, has been serving burgers and hot dogs to track customers for decades. Although their track business has gradually diminished in recent years, the Stevenses still don’t want to see Arlington–the institution–go.
“It’s part of the community. It isn’t just the business itself; it’s the feeling,” said Jimmy Stevens.
Ironically, some local business owners whose business depends partly on the track said they, too, have lost interest in the ponies.
Stevens used to visit the racecourse regularly. While he still considers it an important asset to the community, he makes it out to the park just a couple times a year.
“You can’t keep gambling,” he said with a laugh. “You just keep losing.”