Unease about the future of the Fair Grounds Race Course has led city and state lawmakers to enact new protections for the site amid concerns that its owner could try to make changes to the track which opened in 1872.
The measures, which prohibit the property from being used for anything other than its current purposes and ban any demolition, were quickly put into place last week after Kentucky-based Churchill Downs told state officials that it intends to give up its racing, slots and video poker licenses.
The company has said that a ban on “historical horse racing” betting will hurt its bottom line. State lawmakers allowed the games to be put in place across the state in 2021. Earlier this year, however, the state Supreme Court said those games, which allow someone to bet on a random race that has already been run, were illegal without voter approval in every parish since it’s a new form of gaming.
While the company has told media outlets it does not intend to sell the Fair Grounds, that has not stopped people from worrying about what could happen to the race track if there is no longer racing or betting.
The City Council on Thursday, June 12, put in place an interim zoning district that Councilwoman Helena Moreno said would protect the property from any new uses. She sponsored the motion with Councilman Joe Giarrusso.
Moreno said the council will work to create additional zoning measures that are permanent.
“Moving forward, no matter who owns this particular property, this is a location for horse racing and also to be preserved as a fair grounds as it has been since its inception,” Moreno said during the council’s June 12 meeting.
State lawmakers, meanwhile, amended a bill before the legislative session adjourned that designates the Fair Grounds a state historic site. That would require legislators to approve demolition or the end of horse racing.
State Sen. Jimmy Harris of New Orleans led that amendment.
