Greenwood has said it plans to build a $300 million casino and resort on the southeast portion of the present Philadelphia Park parking lot.
"We have no problem [with slots in the present facility] for a couple of years, but we're being squeezed. The patrons and horsemen are forced into a small area near the paddock. There are only two elevators to accommodate everyone [slots and horseplayers], and the fifth floor [restricted to racing and simulcasting] does not have enough seating. There is fragmented participation," Ballezzi said. "Live handle is down 30 percent over the last six months. We want our grandstand back."
Ballezzi said that $12 million approved for backstretch renovations over seven years, which were to begin in September, had yet to commence.
Hal Handel, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Park, called the current situation "very complicated" and said the petition to the Gaming Board was to "take away the ticking clock" and not to avoid building a permanent structure.
"It's not that simple. We need to look at the Philly market [licensing is under way for casinos in the city] and look for the right solution. It's not [track president Bob] Green's intention to make the present situation permanent. But you don't just rush in and spend hundreds of millions," Handel said.
Part of the track's petition to the Gaming Board is to add 340 to 370 slot machines to the 2,000 already operating at the facility.
"But it will not be at the expense of racing room, it's space already allotted," he said.
Handel said that the current slot machines were averaging about $370 each daily, "more than Atlantic City," and that backstretch improvements, including paving and barn and dorm renovations, would begin next week.
