OSRC: Still not enough seats at Dayton tracks

For the second week in a row, on Wednesday morning officials from both Penn National Gaming and Miami Valley Gaming and Racing presented plans for proposed new harness racetracks in Dayton to the Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC). And for the second week in a row, were told to come back next week with further revisions.

Penn National has proposed moving the Beulah Park Thoroughbred track in Columbus to Austintown, in the northeast corner of the state, and Raceway Park to north Dayton. The plans presented to the commission for both Penn National sites are nearly identical. Miami Valley—a partnership of Churchill Downs Inc. and Delaware North—plans to move Lebanon Raceway to south Dayton.

The OSRC earlier expressed concerns about seating at the proposed facilities, including the numbers and those which had a view of the racetrack. In its latest presentation, Penn National showed revisions to add more than 600 bleacher seats at Hollywood Dayton Raceway, which would increase seating from 770 to 1,400. The commission again expressed dissatisfaction with a lack of change in the number of inside seats and viewing areas. There is also a concern that most of the seats are outside and exposed to the weather.

Miami Valley's plans call for seating for 860 persons and the commission expressed a desire to increase that number to 1,200.

Revised plans are scheduled to be presented at the next meeting of the racing commission on Wednesday morning, March 27.

« Back