Harness racing could be coming to Plymouth Township.
Representatives from Northville Downs this week submitted a proposal to establish a new procedure in northwest Plymouth Township, just a couple miles from the latest area at Seven Mile and Sheldon Street in Northville.
The current Northville Downs site was sold in 2018 to Hunter Pasteur Properties. The business is setting up to develop the land with 450 new residences, professional area and parks, but for now, Northville Downs is continuing operations, with stay racing scheduled for April by way of September of 2023.
The new undertaking, dubbed Northville Downs at Plymouth Township, is proposed on section of a 128-acre parcel in close proximity to the southwest corner of Five Mile and Ridge roadways. The location is in just Michigan Worldwide Technological innovation Corridor (MITC).
According to the submitted ideas, the initially period of the proposed job, if permitted by Plymouth Township, would incorporate design of a 50 %-mile oval harness racetrack, a two-story, 4,900-sq.-foot grandstand with a big patio for standing home race viewing, a 23,000-sq.-foot racing setting up, a 35,000-square-foot horse barn and a 3,200-square-foot servicing setting up.
An expected potential phase of the proposed undertaking, pending legislative approval, is the design and operation of a 54,000-sq.-foot gaming facility with more parking.
The task could arrive before the Plymouth Township Organizing Commission as before long as February, but an agenda has not nonetheless been set. If the venture is accepted by the planning fee, it will then go in advance of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees for consideration.
Criteria for Plymouth Township
A representative from Northville Downs did not straight away return a contact trying to find remark, but Plymouth Township Supervisor Kurt Heise explained the job was special and attention-grabbing.
“We’re flattered that Northville Downs would take into consideration us as the web page of their new procedure,” Heise reported. “We know horseracing is a whole lot different in Michigan than it was 100 yrs in the past, and the proposal they’re placing forward is for a a great deal far more efficient operation than what they at present have, simply because the business product has improved.
“It’s a incredibly environmentally responsible website with as much cleanse electrical power and inexperienced technological innovation as possible, which is a big leap about what we see suitable now in Northville.”
If the approach moves ahead, Heise said, the township will get the job done to negotiate a neighborhood profit agreement, which could include the skill to maintain group gatherings these kinds of as the return of the Fourth of July fireworks demonstrate, which was canceled in 2017. Other activities could incorporate leisure events like soccer, car displays, concerts and other equestrian-kind activities.
By point out regulation, Plymouth Township would also be entitled to breakage costs, the variation in cents involving the winning payouts and the nearest dime. For case in point, according to the 2021 Michigan Gaming Control Board Horse Racing Report, if a successful wager is computed to spend $3.12, then the bettor receives $3.10. The breakage of $.02 is deposited into a fund distributed and made use of by the cities or townships where by the tracks are situated.
In 2021, the Metropolis of Northville obtained $214,203 in breakage costs from Northville Downs, in accordance to the report.
If the proposal is authorized, the new facility will be an additional MITC addition to the Five Mile corridor concerning Plymouth Township and Northville. Fears have been raised about highway problems in the area, and Heise claimed MITC is actively lobbying the Condition of Michigan for funding to rebuild and widen Five Mile Road in between Napier and Beck streets. The challenge is predicted to price tag an estimated $25 million or more.
The existing Northville Downs facility receives around 200 automobiles each day, about 450 automobiles on Friday and Saturday, and upwards of 800 all through specific activities this kind of as Kentucky Derby Day, the proposal states.
Proven in 1944, Northville Downs is the oldest and only remaining nighttime harness racing track in Michigan. The first period of operation for the new facility will include daylight only racing. In addition to seasonal are living harness racing, Northville Downs also features yr-spherical simulcast wagering and is the host for special gatherings these as the Northville Spring and Summer time carnivals.
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Get hold of reporter Laura Colvin at [email protected] or 248-221-8143.
