Pimlico To Close 6,670 Seats Near The Grandstand

BALTIMORE, MD — Nearly 6,700 seats at Pimlico Race Course will be decommissioned this year in the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course, according to the Maryland Jockey Club. The announcement came a little more than a month before the Preakness Stakes.

The 2019 Preakness Stakes will draw crowds to Pimlico on Saturday, May 18.

Before then, the Maryland Jockey Club enlisted an engineering firm to conduct a safety assessment of the facility. The study revealed that the oldest part of the grandstand — the northern part, which contains seating for 6,670 guests and is more than 100 years old — "is no longer suitable to sustain that level of load bearing weight," according to a statement the Maryland Jockey Club released on Saturday, April 13.

There has been "significant deterioration to the northern part of the grandstand" adjacent to the clubhouse, Baltimore-based engineering firm Faisant Associates determined, according to a statement from the Maryland Jockey Club.

Pimlico, which opened in 1870, is the second oldest race track in the U.S.; the oldest is Saratoga, which began hosting races in New York in 1864.

Officials said that it was a "difficult decision" to close this part of the grandstand at Pimlico.

There are more than 14,000 seats at Pimlico, including about 12,900 in the main grandstand, old grandstand and clubhouse combined; the rest are in dining and sports palace areas. Taking into account standing room and the infield as well as box seats, Pimlico can accommodate nearly 110,000 people for the Preakness Stakes, according to the Maryland Jockey Club.

"It is deeply disappointing for us and the affected ticket-holders that at a peak moment in time when we generate the most amount of income for the industry, for our company and for all stakeholders, and when we are poised to welcome racing fans to Preakness, we have to de-commission 6,670 seats,” Bill Hecht, CEO of U.S. Real Estate for The Stronach Group, said in a statement. The Stronach Group owns Pimlico Race Course and the Maryland Jockey Club.

The announcement comes as The Stronach Group is considering whether to move the Preakness to Laurel Park, another one of its properties.

After the Maryland Racing Commission requested a study of the facility in Baltimore City, the Maryland Stadium Authority recommended demolishing all structures at Pimlico, including the clubhouse, infield, grandstand, race tracks, barns and other infrastructure, in a December 2018 report. Its suggested capital improvements were estimated to cost about $424 million.

According to The Stronach Group, the closure of nearly 6,700 seats is not any sort of signal about the future of Pimlico.

"As the safety and security is paramount to our guests and employees, this position to forego income should in no way be interpreted as anything other than that," Hecht said in a statement. He will discuss the decision to decommission 6,670 seats more in a press conference on Monday, April 15.

Those who have purchased tickets for the section of the grandstand that is closing may trade them in at face value for similar seats by calling 1-877-206-8042 between now and May 1.

The Preakness Stakes is the second of three legs of the Triple Crown, the most prestigious horse race competition in the United States. The first leg is the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, in Louisville, Kentucky, and the third leg is the Belmont Stakes, which will be Saturday, June 8, in Elmont, New York.

Get tickets to the Preakness, including Black-Eyed Susan Day on Friday, May 17; as well as the Preakness Stakes and Preakness InfieldFest on Saturday, May 18. Use the promotional code "Patchtickets10" to get 10 percent off. TicketNetwork is a Patch promotional partner.

SEE ALSO:

• Pimlico Study: Maryland Stadium Authority Suggests $424M Rebuild
• Baltimore Area Businesses Brace For Possible Preakness Move
• Preakness Stakes May Move To Laurel, Bowie: Report
• Baltimore County Lawmaker Proposes Moving Preakness