Use Laurel Park for training, Pimlico for racing

It would be an expensive mistake for the state to buy Laurel Park to keep the track’s owner from paying federal capital gains tax. Why should our tax dollars be spent on a scheme to keep a business from paying their tax bill? (“Plans for Pimlico and Laurel Park’s renovations are bogged down and hundreds of millions over budget,” Feb. 3.)

There is another reason not to buy Laurel Park: It is in worse shape than Pimlico.

Last year the legislature requested a study done by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) on the feasibility of Laurel Park. The MEDCO feasibility study found that the foundation of the Laurel grandstand is crumbling and that the grandstand roof, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical system are all beyond repair. The stable area is also beyond repair, as well as the housing where stable workers live. All structures were found to have numerous building code and safety violations. MEDCO recommends demolition of all structures except the historic paddock.

Buying Laurel Park and putting money into new construction of a grandstand, stables and worker housing on the Laurel Park property would put an already over budget project even further over budget by hundreds of millions, as discussed in the recent Baltimore

Sun article. In it, Sen. Guy Guzzone, chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, was quoted as saying “I think everything’s on the table,” but the article did not mention something that should be on the table: all live racing at Pimlico; no live racing at Laurel, just use it as a training facility.

There would be no need to construct a grandstand at Laurel Park. Fewer stables would be required at Laurel if a large portion of the horse population were at Pimlico. There would be no need to construct an additional training track at Laurel Park, also a huge savings. It would save hundreds of millions to turn Laurel into a training only facility and run all the races at Pimlico.

— Diane Hain, Pikesville