Hockey Arena to Usher in Decade of Change at Belmont

When New York State regulators and health officials finally give the New York Racing Association a green light to allow the general public back inside its three racetracks, fans will see a Belmont Park they never could have envisioned a decade ago.

The last time fans were allowed on the grounds of Belmont Park, back on Oct. 27, 2019, there was a large fenced-in area in the track's Red Parking Lot in front of the west end of the grandstand surrounded by rows of trucks and equipment.

What they will find when they return is that a large nondescript area of dirt has been transformed into a dazzling, state-of-art 17,000-seat arena, with its four walls and roof in place and a facade that perfectly complements the famed brick structure of the fabled Belmont Park grandstand.

"It was great that they designed the arena to complement our grandstand and facility," said Glen Kozak, NYRA's senior vice president of operations and capital projects. "It's really nice to see and it says a lot of good things about the builders and developers."

With an eye-catching shell and huge glass windows looking out on Hempstead Turnpike and smaller rows of windows circling the building now in place, there's a bright and electric future on the horizon for a historic parcel of land in Elmont, N.Y. By October or November, as the bowl of the arena is completed with seating, and outdoor patios and landscaped walkways are added, what was first announced in 2017 will become a reality when the arena opens its doors and Belmont Park becomes the joint home of the horses who compete on the NYRA circuit and the National Hockey League's New York Islanders.

"The arena and everything else with it is going to bring a lot of fun to Belmont Park," said Rudy Rodriguez, the leading trainer at the current Aqueduct Racetrack meet who is stabled year-round at Belmont Park, "and we can use it because of what we are going through with coronavirus."

While the arena stands as the centerpiece of the new development, much more will be coming to Belmont Park in the next few years.

Rows of shops will be built in what is now Belmont Park's Yellow (South) parking lot on the other side of Hempstead Turnpike and construction on a parking garage there will begin next month. A regular train stop inside Belmont Park is under construction and will be added to the Long Island Railroad's Main Line, joining the special spur to the facility on racing days. A hotel will follow as part of what was originally pitched to the Empire State Development Corporation as a $1.18 billion project.

And as hockey fans are making plans to buy season tickets for games at the UBS Arena at Belmont Park, NYRA officials have been working on their own plans to eventually modernize a 119-year-old racing facility that was rebuilt in 1968 and, despite all of its aesthetic beauty, has become a dinosaur in an era of mobile wagering with its massive 1.3 million square-foot grandstand.

"Hopefully this is the start of a decade of development and modernization of the Belmont site," said Martin Panza, NYRA's senior vice president of racing operations. "I know that's what we are working on. There's a lot of potential for things we can do there."

NYRA's wish list, once it secures funding and state approvals, figures to include rebuilding the grandstand and clubhouse as well as the main track and two turf courses in order to modernize the plant with an eye toward making it NYRA's lone downstate track. There could even be sports betting in the future, provided the proper state legislation is passed.

A small slice of that project will begin this year as Kozak said Belmont Park's grandstand paddock entrance will be renovated, and afterwards the track's backyard area, which has been basically reduced in half due to the arena and its walkways, will receive new mutuel bays and rest rooms.

It's all part of what promises to be the biggest change at Belmont Park in more than 50 years and has become even more of a necessity with a sparkling new building on the grounds that will bring tens of thousands of new faces—and potential new customers—to the facility on a regular basis.

"I know we can co-exist with the Islanders and take advantage of what we each have to offer," Panza said. "If it brings more people onto the property then it's our job as the management team at NYRA to capitalize on that. In time we're hoping to upgrade our building so we can work in unison to create a true sports, retail, and entertainment center that meshes together well."

At some point in the next year or so, there should be times when the complex will be open for racing in the afternoon and hockey at night, and Kozak does not expect any complications on that front.

"We should be able to handle racing and hockey in the same day without any major problems," Kozak said. "We're working on parking agreements that are geared to handle our race fans and can then transition to hockey in the evening. Hockey fits in well with the current schedule at Belmont and having additional rapid transit access with the new train station will be great."

Building a new arena during a pandemic was not easy. Building a new arena during a pandemic at a racetrack with a large community of year-round equine residents only added to the challenge.

With Belmont Park's main track scheduled to re-open for training April 2, it will once again bring the equine athletes considerably closer to the construction site than their wintertime travels over the training track on the east end of the facility.

Yet what could have been a logistical nightmare has been handled smoothly through a dedicated effort by the builders and NYRA to maintain strong lines of communication and work in harmony to create a safe environment for the horses.

"The preparation that went on with us and the Islanders and the contractors involved great communication. People always say communication is so important and it could not be more important in a situation like this," Kozak said. "There was excellent coordination."

For the last few years, Kozak and other NYRA officials have been in constant contact with the builders and developers to create schedules so that construction and racing and training could take place without interfering with each other.

At the forefront of the arena side have been AECOM Hunt, the builders, Sterling Project Development, the developers, and Ruttura & Sons Construction.

Each of those companies assigned a point person to work with Kozak so changes could be accommodated on either the construction or racing side.

Even before construction began, Kozak brought Billy Racky, AECOM Hunt's vice president of field operations, to meet with trainers, including Shug McGaughey and Christophe Clement, so Racky could better understand the concerns horsemen had in regards to the noise and disruptions caused by turning a parking lot into a 17,000-seat arena.

"I give them a lot of credit for bringing their superintendents out to the track in the morning and meeting with the trainers," Kozak said. "It showed everyone that they were willing to work with them and create a good situation for everyone. Even before the digging out of the bowl began, they walked us step-by-step through the process so we could see how that might impact training. Their focus was that racing has to go on while the building is constructed and the horses' safety was a primary concern."

Kozak also voiced appreciation for the efforts of Anthony Lopez from Sterling Project Development and the team at Ruttura for their willingness to change work schedules to avoid disturbing the horses, who could see and hear the construction more when they were in the paddock.

"We tried to limit the noisy jobs during times when there was no racing or training. They accommodated us and it's worked very well for us," Kozak said. "They tried to manage their work based on how it impacts what we do. When they did some work that might be distracting to the horses, they stopped when the horses came through the tunnel to enter the paddock and resumed when they left the paddock. There was no problem with trucks hauling soil to the North lot while training was going on."

NYRA did its part by pushing back post times for weekday September 2019 dates and announcing a move to Aqueduct Racetrack earlier than planned the following month, but Kozak said it was quickly discovered that the changes were not necessary and post times were moved back in October and the early migration to the Big A was scrapped.

Kozak said he does not expect any construction-related changes to post times for the upcoming spring/summer meet at Belmont Park that opens April 22.

"The way things have gone so far, I don't anticipate any issues. A majority of the bigger picture items have already come together very well," he said. "Aside from the work inside the shell with seating and everything else, it's basically perimeter landscaping needs. The biggest problem will probably be the walkway they are constructing from the North parking lot to the arena that's near the outer rail of the main track."

Rodriguez was also confident that racing and training will continue without a hitch as the finishing touches are applied to the arena.

"It's been working out very well. I don't think the construction has bothered any one," he said. "There was a little noise at first, but the horses get used to it. Horses are smart and most are well-behaved. I can't wait for Friday, I like to train on the main track."

Rodriguez' feelings about the main track are probably dwarfed by the anticipation building among Islanders fans who are champing at the bit for a new, ultra-modern arena with luxury suites, comfortable seating, gargantuan HD screens, and better concession areas than they have at the decrepit Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and significantly better sight lines for hockey than they encountered at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Panza, a hockey fan dating back to his youthful days in California and working at Hollywood Park near The Forum, was an Islander season ticket holder until this season and is looking forward to attending games with the same level of comfort he enjoyed while watching his favorite team, the Los Angeles Kings, win a pair of Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014 at the Staples Center.

"When I came here (in 2014) and went to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders play, I felt sorry for them," he said. "It was like a minor league arena after being in Los Angeles with the Staples Center with all those suites and food stands. You wondered how their owner could compete with the rest of the league."

Those days of games in a decaying facility will end for Islanders fans before the end of the year. As for racing fans, the wait for a new, leading-edge building will take longer, yet, when the time finally comes and fans can return to Belmont Park, the sight of a new palace on the grounds should fill them with optimism for just how bright the future may prove to be.