How to resolve AdBlock issue? The New York Racing Association formally unveiled the 1863 Club, the Saratoga Racetrack’s newest addition, this past week on Tuesday, July 9.
The Club, named in honor of the year of the first organized thoroughbred race in Saratoga, is a 36,000-square foot, three story tall building with air conditioning and a full-service kitchen built next to one of the track’s two straightaways on Clubhouse turn with a walkway on the second floor leading to the spectator seats.
The first floor has a banquet space called The Rail, which has floor-to-ceiling windows to view the track and seating for up to 500 people.
The second floor features a group event space that can fit up to 100 people, designated Legends Hall in tribute to well-known trainers and jockeys.
The third floor has luxury suites named after some of the most talented thoroughbreds that have raced at Saratoga, such as Lady Eli and Whirlaway, offering a view of the main track and capacities from 30 to 45 people.
Both the second and third floors include wood balconies looking out over the track, with the first floor having doors opening to staircases leading to a red brick walkway alongside the race course.
At the unveiling, NYRA CEO and President Dave O’Rourke introduced the head architect of the project.
“When I took this job a few months ago, the construction team here was facing a significant challenge: open this place for opening day.” O’Rourke said. “So we decided to move it up a week.”
He continued. “It wasn’t an easy task, and the reason we’re able to stand here today in this amazing building is due to the outstanding work of our partners.”
During the unveiling, last minute additions and polishing were ongoing, such as the construction equipment working on the backside of the building and the workers still installing the last of the betting kiosks.
O’Rourke then gave Matthew Hurff of Frost Hurff Architects, head architect of the project, time to talk about the building.
“From a certain point of reference, it doesn’t take much to build a building like a casino. The construction is typical, the costs are low, and no one really expects it to look very good,” Hurff said. “A historic racetrack, however, is no more a casino than Saratoga Springs is Atlantic City. Building at Saratoga racecourse requires something more. This place has character, and to succeed here, you need to show character.”
He continued by saying even as they were nearing deadline for opening, the people he was working with were still willing to do “the low thing, the hard thing, the expensive thing, because they knew it was the right thing to do.”
He then handed off the microphone to Samantha Bosshart, Executive Director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.
“Change has always been a part of Saratoga racecourse, and not always easily accepted at first,” Bosshart said. “The opening of
the 1863 Club marks one of the largest single investments to be made since the current Clubhouse was built in 1928.”
She continued by mentioning that the Preservation Foundation was pleased with the Club and that it understood the need to change the track so that NYRA could continue to offer “some of the best thoroughbred racing in the country.”
For more information, contact the Saratoga Race Course at NYRA.com/Saratoga.
