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An excavator tore open the walls of the Pimlico clubhouse Thursday as the governor and other dignitaries looked on — the official kick-off for a demolition already underway at the historic track in northwest Baltimore’s Park Heights.
The Maryland Board of Public Works signed off on the demolition and reconstruction project in May, starting a race to demolish and rebuild the aging track in time to bring the Preakness Stakes back to the Baltimore neighborhood by 2027.
But the storied old clubhouse wasn’t the only thing being ripped into Thursday.
After citing his administration’s gains in Baltimore — a massive decline in gun violence, a new lease for the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards and the ongoing effort to redevelop Harborplace — Gov. Wes Moore (D) seized the opportunity to lambaste President Donald Trump (R), who said Baltimore is “so far gone” when it comes to violent crime. Trump made the remarks earlier this month as he mobilized National Guard troops to patrol Washington, D.C.
“If you are not willing to be part of the solution, keep our names out of your mouth,” Moore said, eliciting cheers from the crowd. “Specifically, Donald Trump, if you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth.”
But the next speaker to step to the microphone — a Park Heights clergyman leading the community advisory board for the redevelopment — had a sobering message, and a reminder that the city’s problems have not gone away.
Bishop Troy Randall, who grew up in the neighborhood abutting the racecourse, said he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting near the racetrack 5 p.m. Wednesday that left an 18-year-old man dead.
“My heart grieves, as well as its joy,” Randall said. “I am a product of the good, and I’m a product of the bad.”
Randall said he was sitting in his car, having just dropped off a neighbor at the barbershop, when shots rang out.
“They shot my car, and as I laid on the floor of my car crying, I said, ‘Lord, not this. Not this way. It can’t end like this,’” Randall said.
After the shots stopped, Randall emerged from his car to see the young victim lying on the ground.
“I got out of that car, and I stood there, and I looked at the gentleman gasping for air in his lungs, I prayed that God give him another day,” Randall said.
Randall said the harrowing incident inspired him to continue fighting for Park Heights to benefit from the redevelopment. He said Moore “kept his promise” to visit the neighborhood, by attending Thursday’s ceremony.
Thursday, Moore touted his administration’s plan to reinvest a share of the revenue from the new racing facility in neighborhood improvements.
“The community have to be shareholders,” Moore said. “They have to benefit from all the new revenue that we will see.”
Moore pointed to $75 million in state funding for affordable housing in the neighborhood and $5 million for a new Park Heights public library.
The Board of Public Works vote in May approved a $15.2 million contract with Clark Construction related to the demolition and reconstruction, kickstarting a long-discussed plan to raze the deteriorating racing facility.
The unanimous vote came even as State Treasurer Dereck Davis, one of the three members of the board, wondered if it should be a final handout to a struggling horseracing industry. He pondered aloud if building year-round appeal for the racetrack was a “pipe dream.”
The board also approved $4.5 million that day to buy a farm in Carroll County that is slated to host a new $110 million training center, capable of hosting some 800 horses.
With Pimlico razed, next year’s Preakness is scheduled to be run at Laurel Park. But the state, which owns Pimlico, plans to have the track reopened by May 2027, in time to once again host the second leg of the Triple Crown.
That gives project managers less than two years to complete the full demolition and rebuild. But Moore was optimistic Thursday.
“We are ensuring that the second leg of the Triple Crown will also be the Triple Crown’s crown jewel,” Moore said. “And that that crown jewel will be right here in Baltimore, right where it belongs.”
