All have a stake in track's future
Fifteen years ago, my community faced a situation similar to the one Arlington Heights faces now. Our beloved racetrack, Ak-Sar-Ben, at one time a top 10 track, was struggling. Competition from state lotteries, keno parlors and an Iowa dog racing track/casino eroded our fan base and the horse track was losing money.
At that time Douglas County owned Ak-sar-ben. Since I was a Douglas County commissioner and Ak-sar-ben was in my district, I felt a personal responsibility to find a solution to the contentious community debate.
The anti-casino groups, horseman, casino interests and the general public all seemed pitted against one another. Most casual fans just wanted a return to halcyon days of the past, when 20,000 fans would pack the track for an enjoyable day of racing.
But the track was draining our finances. Expanded gambling looked like the answer, but the more I learned the less appealing that option seemed.
I convened a group of architects to create a design plan for the 360 acres that was right in the middle of the city. I met with various groups to find a development plan that everyone could be happy with. In the end, as the swing vote, I passed on the casino based development in favor of selling the property to a philanthropic group made up of community leaders who had the wherewithal to develop it.
Today the former racetrack is the home of Askarben Village: a hub of university, retail, commercial, apartments and a community green space with fountains.
My advice for your community is to follow a similar course and involve the community as a whole to participate in the process, invite the services of urban planners, and plan for the long term. Casinos may seem like a possible answer, but with casinos comes a cache of negative consequences that are well documented.
Ak-sar-ben Village only strengthen my conviction that I made the right choice to pursue a mixed development benefiting the entire community as opposed to a casino based development with limited benefit and social consequences.
Don't allow outside interests to make decisions for your community. Take control of the situation and collectively decide the future of your community.
George Mills
Omaha, Nebraska