New Owners Plan Major Renovation For Seabrook Greyhound Park

When Andre Carrier talked with New Hampshire residents about Eureka Casino Resort’s purchase of Seabrook Greyhound Park last month he was a little taken aback with the most common question.

“They would very politely say: ‘Are you going to reopen it?’" said Carrier, chief operating officer of Eureka Casino Resort, adding that he believes there are many people who think the park closed completely when greyhound racing was outlawed in the state in 2010.

While greyhounds no longer race around the oval at the 75-acre site, Seabrook has remained open for simulcasting, poker and card games as part of the state’s charitable gaming program. Now Eureka is looking to use the history of the track, which opened in 1973 and hosted national stakes races that drew crowds in the thousands in its first three decades of operation, as the theme to build the foundation of its future.

“What we hope to do is bring more polish to the gaming experience in New Hampshire,” said Carrier, who grew up in the Mount Washington Valley. “The pari-mutuel area is kind of frozen in time in the mid-1980s. We want to bring it into the 2000s.”

That will begin over the next couple of weeks with the opening of The Greyhound Casino & Tavern in a remodeled portion of the 950,000-square-foot building. Carrier said it will be a “casino showroom” as a precursor of things to come during an extensive renovation of the property over the next six to nine months.

“We’re taking steps to change the guest experience,” he said. “We want to appeal to both the legacy customer and also reach out to new people.

“We want this to be a place where people come out to watch a big race like the Kentucky Derby. But we want it to be a place where people come to watch the Bruins go on a Stanley Cup run too.”

Currently in the state, customers can only bet on one of those two events. But that could change with the sports betting legislation being considered this week. Rhode Island is the only state in New England with live sports betting at two locations, but Massachusetts also has a bill under consideration to bring sports betting to its three casinos with Encore Harbor Boston in Everett scheduled to open this summer.

Carrier testified in front of the New Hampshire House Ways and Means Committee on the bill last month. He said while many states have an online component to sports betting, as is also proposed in New Hampshire, he believes having a physical location with experienced staff helps bring in the casual gambler who might bet a big game or big race, but is unlikely to set up an online account.

“Being right here on the Massachusetts border it’s a good idea to import some tax revenue and we’re here to help,” he said.

Under the charitable gaming guidelines, Seabrook donates 35 percent of revenue to charities recognized by the New Hampshire Charitable Racing and Gaming Commission, and another 10 percent to the state.

“A charity casino is ideally aligned for a 100-percent, employee-owned company,” Carrier said. “We consider ourselves activist philanthropists. We don’t give just to give, we give to get things done. It’s great for us to know that the work we do helps make meaningful change in the community.”