Montana Racing
Jan 26, 2013 14:07:19 GMT -5
Post by racinggal on Jan 26, 2013 14:07:19 GMT -5
Group to make recommendation on Missoula horse track
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian
If this isn’t horse racing’s last stand in Missoula, it’s getting close.
An advisory group charged with planning a new footprint for the Missoula County Fairgrounds will make its recommendation Monday on whether or not to plan around the half-mile track in case racing ever comes back.
The decision by the 15-member panel will be forwarded to county commissioners for final approval. Commissioner Michele Landquist sits on the advisory committee.
There’s been plenty of behind-the-scenes maneuvering since the fairgrounds advisory committee last met on Dec. 6.
Racing organizers put out a rallying call, and Toni Hinton of the Western Montana Turf Club said she expects supporters from racing venues across the state to show up.
“I just kind of feel like we have done everything we can do. Now the race fans have to come forward,” Hinton said, adding that Missoula is viewed as a linchpin in Montana’s racing industry.
***
Missoula businessman Michael Burks, president of the Missoula Maulers junior hockey, entered the conversation with a splash this week. He posted and distributed a notice urging those who like the idea of building a multipurpose events center on the racetrack to make their sentiments known Monday.
Burks said he attended a recent meeting of the Missoula Events Center steering committee that formed several years ago to explore the feasibility of building an all-season events facility at the fairgrounds or elsewhere.
He called a 5,000-seat arena that includes a sheet of ice “a no-brainer for our community” and said the newfound backing of the ice community solidifies the idea.
“As much as I empathize with people who love horse racing, it’s two days a year every three years that is preventing a 365-day event center from being built,” Burks said.
He’s aware talk of an events center isn’t on the agenda Monday, he added.
“But if we can finally – and I guess there’s no other way to put it – put an end or make a concrete, firm stance that horse racing isn’t really beneficial to the city ... then we can finally get going on this next project and start hitting it hard and hopefully get it on the ballot and get the city and county on board with it,” Burks said.
Eric Gabster, who chairs the fairgrounds advisory committee, will begin the racetrack discussion with a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the “major issues that brought us to this point, especially vis-a-vis the issue of horse racing.”
The wording of the agenda’s lone action item, scheduled to be addressed from 11:55 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. is the committee’s “recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners regarding the fairgrounds racetrack.”
“The focus is really about dealing with a very narrow question of land use, which is what the committee is really formulated to execute – recommendations about land use and planning, not about programming,” Gabster said.
***
The racetrack, built in 1914, and its accompanying barns, pens and sheds on the backside occupy slightly more than half of the 47-acre fairgrounds.
Racing backers say there’s new energy at the Montana Board of Horse Racing level with the hiring of Stevensville’s Tom Tucker as executive secretary. Tucker and the board are exploring ways to build up revenue to the horsemen and live tracks through such funding sources as simulcast racing, fantasy sports and advance deposit wagering.
The Western Montana Turf Club and the Missoula County Tavern Owners Association recently partnered with a goal to bring racing back to town. They approached the county commissioners this week with their ideas.
Racing is not a viable initiative any more for the 2013 fair, acknowledged Dale Mahlum, a Missoula horseman who urged the turf club-tavern owners coalition and who chairs the state racing board.
Whatever happens at Monday’s meeting, the Missoula track will remain intact until money is raised to replace it, Mahlum pointed out. He sees no reason why horse racing can’t resume until then and he thinks the county commissioners agree with him.
“We need people there Monday,” Mahlum said. “If they’re inclined to have racing come back, it would be the only opportunity, the last opportunity.”
missoulian.com/news/local/group-to-make-recommendation-on-missoula-horse-track/article_aa8d6b80-675e-11e2-8c75-001a4bcf887a.html
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian
If this isn’t horse racing’s last stand in Missoula, it’s getting close.
An advisory group charged with planning a new footprint for the Missoula County Fairgrounds will make its recommendation Monday on whether or not to plan around the half-mile track in case racing ever comes back.
The decision by the 15-member panel will be forwarded to county commissioners for final approval. Commissioner Michele Landquist sits on the advisory committee.
There’s been plenty of behind-the-scenes maneuvering since the fairgrounds advisory committee last met on Dec. 6.
Racing organizers put out a rallying call, and Toni Hinton of the Western Montana Turf Club said she expects supporters from racing venues across the state to show up.
“I just kind of feel like we have done everything we can do. Now the race fans have to come forward,” Hinton said, adding that Missoula is viewed as a linchpin in Montana’s racing industry.
***
Missoula businessman Michael Burks, president of the Missoula Maulers junior hockey, entered the conversation with a splash this week. He posted and distributed a notice urging those who like the idea of building a multipurpose events center on the racetrack to make their sentiments known Monday.
Burks said he attended a recent meeting of the Missoula Events Center steering committee that formed several years ago to explore the feasibility of building an all-season events facility at the fairgrounds or elsewhere.
He called a 5,000-seat arena that includes a sheet of ice “a no-brainer for our community” and said the newfound backing of the ice community solidifies the idea.
“As much as I empathize with people who love horse racing, it’s two days a year every three years that is preventing a 365-day event center from being built,” Burks said.
He’s aware talk of an events center isn’t on the agenda Monday, he added.
“But if we can finally – and I guess there’s no other way to put it – put an end or make a concrete, firm stance that horse racing isn’t really beneficial to the city ... then we can finally get going on this next project and start hitting it hard and hopefully get it on the ballot and get the city and county on board with it,” Burks said.
Eric Gabster, who chairs the fairgrounds advisory committee, will begin the racetrack discussion with a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the “major issues that brought us to this point, especially vis-a-vis the issue of horse racing.”
The wording of the agenda’s lone action item, scheduled to be addressed from 11:55 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. is the committee’s “recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners regarding the fairgrounds racetrack.”
“The focus is really about dealing with a very narrow question of land use, which is what the committee is really formulated to execute – recommendations about land use and planning, not about programming,” Gabster said.
***
The racetrack, built in 1914, and its accompanying barns, pens and sheds on the backside occupy slightly more than half of the 47-acre fairgrounds.
Racing backers say there’s new energy at the Montana Board of Horse Racing level with the hiring of Stevensville’s Tom Tucker as executive secretary. Tucker and the board are exploring ways to build up revenue to the horsemen and live tracks through such funding sources as simulcast racing, fantasy sports and advance deposit wagering.
The Western Montana Turf Club and the Missoula County Tavern Owners Association recently partnered with a goal to bring racing back to town. They approached the county commissioners this week with their ideas.
Racing is not a viable initiative any more for the 2013 fair, acknowledged Dale Mahlum, a Missoula horseman who urged the turf club-tavern owners coalition and who chairs the state racing board.
Whatever happens at Monday’s meeting, the Missoula track will remain intact until money is raised to replace it, Mahlum pointed out. He sees no reason why horse racing can’t resume until then and he thinks the county commissioners agree with him.
“We need people there Monday,” Mahlum said. “If they’re inclined to have racing come back, it would be the only opportunity, the last opportunity.”
missoulian.com/news/local/group-to-make-recommendation-on-missoula-horse-track/article_aa8d6b80-675e-11e2-8c75-001a4bcf887a.html