Arlington International Racecourse, temporarily closed this year following multimillion-dollar losses, probably never will reopen, the track’s chief executive officer said Friday.
“Racing is not feasible here anymore,” CEO Scott Mordell said. “We’re not planning on coming back here.”
Dramatic changes are needed in Illinois’ political landscape and within the state’s horse-racing industry to make racing at Arlington financially feasible, Mordell said. And while track operators “know enough never to say never,” Mordell said, it appears unlikely that such changes will occur in the foreseeable future.
As a result, track owner Dick Duchossois’ operating team is focused on finding a use other than horse racing for the 326-acre site in Arlington Heights.
“We’re trying to explore every option to keep this organization together and utilize this facility,” Mordell said. “We’d love to see racing come back here, but we’re not planning on it.”
Local officials, Arlington Heights merchants and operators of other Chicago-area horse tracks expressed little surprise at Mordell’s comments. Businesses have to do what is best for their bottom line, they said, and Duchossois held on longer than many thought he would.
Some said losing Arlington would be a significant loss for Arlington Heights and Illinois in terms of added business, tax revenue and support for the state’s horse-racing industry.
“Dick Duchossois has always been a very active corporate citizen and very supportive of so many entities in the village. This loss is a very significant one,” said Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder, who noted that the track has been part of her village for 70 years.
Ed Duffy, a former chief executive of Arlington who now runs Sportsman’s Park in Cicero, said: “None of us wants to see Arlington completely out of the picture, but that is a decision (Duchossois) has to make.”
At the 421-room Arlington Park Hilton Conference Center adjacent to the track, general manager Michael Feigenbaum said the hotel already had planned for the worst.
“We assumed that it wouldn’t open again,” Feigenbaum said. “We just don’t mention it in our marketing anymore. We talk about other things to do in this area–golf, shopping, etc.”
But, Feigenbaum added: “It’s a beautiful asset for us and the community. We don’t want it to sit vacant and become an eyesore. It’s self-serving, but we want something to bring traffic into the area.”
Over at Don’s Trackside Barber Shop, just across from the track on Northwest Highway, owner Don Sweda said he got free advertising in the track program last May, giving his new shop a boost.
“They put me on the map,” said Sweda, who estimated that he had gained as many as 30 customers from the promotion.
“I thought that maybe after a year they’d get something together and reopen,” he said. “I feel bad it’s closing, because they run a first-class operation.”
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When Duchossois closed his track for the season in October, he said it would be shut for at least a year. He said he already had suffered losses of $70 million over the past decade and remained unable to compete with the fast-paced, year-round gambling available on Illinois’ riverboat casinos.
At the time, many doubted that the track would stay shut for long. After all, he had threatened in 1994 to shutter it, only to change his mind.
But since Duchossois’ fall announcement, it has become clear that it would take a lot to re-open Arlington. Mulder told a gathering of northwest suburban business leaders Thursday that she expects the track to remain closed at least through 1999.
And an extended closing apparently was something to which Duchossois was long resigned.
On one of the final race days at Arlington last fall, Duchossois was asked about the prospects of reopening his track after just one year in mothballs.
“It would take a miracle,” he said. “And I don’t believe in miracles.”
One of the things Duchossois was expected to assess while his track was closed was whether Illinois’ next governor–who will be elected this November and take office next January–might be more sympathetic to Arlington’s situation than Gov. Jim Edgar.
Edgar vehemently opposed Duchossois’ request to put a casino or at least slot machines at the track. That variety of gambling, Duchossois said, would help bolster the track’s sagging finances and help it compete with Illinois’ most profitable riverboat casino, the Grand Victoria, which is floating on the Fox River in Elgin just 12 miles from the track.
Duchossois also has complained about the heavy state regulation of horse racing, saying the restrictions prohibit his track from competing with other types of entertainment.
Duchossois had reason to hope that Edgar’s successor would be better for Arlington. Several of the men seeking to be the state’s next chief executive previously said they would support some expansion of gambling in Illinois.
But all four Democrats and the leading Republican candidate indicated recently that they no longer endorse a wholesale expansion of gambling. And while some said they still would consider allowing Chicago to have a casino, none said they would support allowing slot machines at Arlington.
“We’re taking everything a little at a time,” Mordell said. “But we’re not running in ’98, and we’re not seeing anything on the horizon that would let us run in ’99. Our interest is really just moving ahead and figuring out what to do next.”