Posted on 07/23/25
| News Source: FOX45
Annapolis, MD - July 23, 2025 - Maryland officials are doubling down that the demolition and redevelopment of the state’s flagship racetrack will remain on schedule, despite a key funding source not yet issued, limited activity at the government-controlled site, and the developer abruptly altering details on its website after being questioned.
Spotlight on Maryland has been monitoring the more than $500 million Pimlico Race Course redevelopment project in Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood since the start of the year.
During the 2024 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly successfully revived a 2020 framework bill to redevelop Pimlico, the nation’s second-oldest horse racing track.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) celebrated the signing of the Pimlico redevelopment bill into law as a victory to “keep the Preakness in Maryland." The MSA website said early Monday morning that the project would follow a dedicated two-year plan to restore horse racing at the historic northwest Baltimore site, involving complete demolition and rebuilding of the site.
The project has a very aggressive schedule which is projected to be complete by Preakness 152 in 2027,” the MSA’s website said.
State officials said in May, before a Maryland Board of Public Works vote to approve the demolition of the Pimlico racetrack, that activity on the old structures, which date back to the course’s opening in October 1870, would begin soon after the 150th Preakness Stakes was run on the course on May 17.
Soon after the MSA met the required statutory benchmark to acquire the Pimlico site from its previous owner, the Stronach Group, the agency published a construction timeline saying that construction at the Pimlico site would commence on July 1.
As part of the extensive Pimlico redevelopment package approved by the state assembly in 2024, the MSA was authorized to issue $400 million in bonds to fund the redevelopment project, which had an initial budget exceeding $500 million.
Spotlight on Maryland sent the MSA a series of emails on Monday and Tuesday, asking whether the agency had secured the necessary capital to complete the Pimlico redevelopment. Rachelina Bonacci, the MSA’s public information officer, responded to funding questions by providing several links to the construction initiative, including a sign-up for a monthly community newsletter.
“To date, the Maryland Stadium Authority has not issued any bonds for the Redevelopment of the Pimlico Racing Facility and the New Training Facility project,” Bonacci wrote.
After receiving the first response on Monday afternoon, Spotlight on Maryland reviewed several changes to the project’s section on the MSA’s website. Spotlight on Maryland took screen captures of the original site on Monday morning for comparison, in case the MSA made any updates later that afternoon.
The phrase “very aggressive schedule” regarding the project to be “complete by Preakness 152 in 2027” was taken down from the MSA’s website Monday afternoon after Spotlight on Maryland received the agency’s initial email.
The revised MSA website, among other updates, removed the sentence “Preakness 150 in 2025 will be run at Pimlico, with full demolition and construction of the new facility occurring after the race." It also removed a sentence saying, "all racing and training will occur at Laurel Park after Preakness 150 until 2027.”
The website’s rephrasing was adjusted to use more general and vague language.
“Preakness 151 will take place at Laurel Park and the Preakness is expected to return to Pimlico in 2027,” the updated MSA website said.
The Maryland Stadium Authority told Spotlight on Maryland on Monday, July 21, 2025, via email that the $400 million in bonds for the Pimlico Race Course redevelopment project has not yet been issued. A spokesperson said that the state has accumulated $100 million in cash since 2020 for the project, and the bonds are not needed at this time, despite a timetable indicating they would be issued for sale in spring or summer of 2025.
Spotlight on Maryland questioned the MSA about why the website was suddenly changed within hours after an email was sent to the agency regarding the project’s funding and timeline.
“MSA has been working on a website update for the Redevelopment of the Pimlico Racing and New Training Center page for a few weeks now,” Bonacci said. “Quite frankly, your question sped up that implementation as information on the previous website page was not informed by recent law that was effective July 1 of this year.”
The law concerning Pimlico’s redevelopment was passed by the state assembly in 2024.
Spotlight on Maryland drove and walked around the public outer perimeter of Pimlico on Tuesday to observe the demolition progress and other construction activities. During the two-hour visit, four construction workers were counted on the site.
Two construction workers, wishing to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the media, spoke with Spotlight on Maryland, questioning the project’s timetable.
“They’re saying two years, but I don’t know,” the worker said.
Meanwhile, Merva Hibbert, a resident of Park Heights whose multi-generational home on Winners Avenue faces Pimlico’s iconic buildings just a few hundred feet away, said she hasn’t seen much activity since the Preakness. Spotlight on Maryland asked if Hibbert thought the Pimlico redevelopment would happen within the two-year timeframe.
“I don’t know,” Hibbert said. “I would have thought that they would have begun it already.”
“We’re the last ones to know most of the stuff that’s going on,” Hibbert added.
Spotlight on Maryland asked Moore about the unissued bonds and low activity at Pimlico on Tuesday during an unrelated ribbon-cutting event in Rockville, Md.
“This project is going to happen,” Moore said. “This project is going to make sure, that it is also not just make the community proud, because remember, this is the first time we have seen any type of initiative or platform that was built that actually keeps the community in mind, and we are really proud of that, but we have to make sure we are doing things that are ensuring that the community, that the industry, and also that Preakness will then be taken care of.”
“So the long-term commitment that we have and the timeline we have set out, that is a timeline that we intend on hitting,” Moore added.
Without receiving a clear answer on the project’s financing, Spotlight on Maryland pushed the governor further about how the project will be fully funded to completion, since MSA bonds have not been issued yet.
“Again, the plan that we have laid out is one that we are still very much on track of being able to hit,” Moore said. “The commitment that we have to Park Heights, the commitment that we have to the industry, and the commitment that we have to making sure that the second jewel of the Triple Crown is protected are all things we are committed to.”
After Moore’s response on Tuesday, Spotlight on Maryland pressed MSA further about how the project will be funded to reach its objectives.
“$100 million in cash [has] accumulated since the enactment of the Racing and Community Development Act of 2020 that is funding the Design and Early construction packages, the revenue bonds are not needed at this time,” Bonacci said. “The Maryland Stadium Authority expects the bond issuance will occur this winter.”
MSA and state officials had previously announced that revenue bonds would be issued in May 2025. However, Bonacci’s latest schedule update conflicts with MSA’s earlier guidance to the state legislature in 2024, which said that bonds would be issued in the spring or summer of 2025, with debt repayments starting annually in fiscal 2026, according to the fiscal and policy note for the Pimlico redevelopment law.
The redevelopment bill’s fiscal note said that the project’s bonds are expected to be repaid through multiple revenue streams, including increased contributions from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency’s managed slot machines and designated racing cash accounts.
The nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services (MDLS) added in the fiscal note for the approved Pimlico construction bill that concerns existed regarding the MSA's ability to pay bond servicing debt for the redevelopment project.
“Based on current MSA estimates, $17.0 million annually would not be sufficient to cover projected debt service costs under the bill,” an MDLS wrote in 2024.
The MDLS estimated the debt payments for the issued bonds would be between $24 million and $25 million annually, beginning in fiscal 2026.
A 2023 economic impact study of Maryland’s horse industry showed that the state generates an estimated annual total economic impact of $2.9 billion.