Survey: AH residents back slots at racetrack

Arlington Heights residents overwhelmingly support the idea of adding slot machines at Arlington Park, according to an independent survey commissioned by the racetrack.

And those feelings appear to extend across party lines and political ideologies, the survey says.

Conducted by Washington, D.C.,-based Public Opinion Strategies, the survey questioned 400 registered voters in the village May 1-2.

“We’ve been hearing for months ‘Do you know what people want? Do you know what the opinion is? Do you have an understanding of what’s going on?’” Thom Serafin, spokesman for Arlington Park, said. “We thought maybe we ought to find out.”

Serafin said the track, which often conducts its own marketing research chose an independent group to yield “unimpeachable” results.

The survey, expected to be released Wednesday, cost Arlington Park roughly $19,000, he said.

According to the results, which were based on individual interviews with residents, 86 percent of Arlington Heights voters have a favorable image of the track. Just 7 percent said they had an unfavorable image of it.

Furthermore, the survey found, 59 percent of those who identified themselves as Republicans supported adding slots to the track, and 35 percent opposed it. Among independents, support was at 62 percent, and opposition at 27 percent; 66 percent of Democrats support the change, but 30 percent oppose it.

More than 60 percent of those who considered themselves “conservatives” supported slots, as did 67 percent of self-described liberals and 63 percent of moderates.

The survey results comes on the heels of state lawmakers urging Arlington Heights village trustees to take a stand on whether slot machines or video gambling should be allowed at the track.

With dwindling revenues and changes to purse rules, concerns over the future of Arlington Park were already higher than normal this year, when on Sunday they got another jolt. Bob Evans, CEO of Churchill Downs, which owns Arlington Park, was quoted as saying the corporation could cut its track holdings and that Arlington Park was “the most exposed” because it didn’t have a second source of revenue besides racing.

“It would be nice for (the Arlington Heights’ village board) to express themselves one way or the other,” Serafin said. “But that’s not something Arlington Park should be asking.”

The survey results departed slightly from results of an advisory referendum in 1995, the last time Arlington Heights residents were officially polled for their attitudes on slots at the track. At that time, residents also supported the possibility of a casino at Arlington, but by a margin of just 38 votes.