Wonderland dog racetrack suspends operation following apparent demise of Mass. casino bill

Wonderland dog racetrack in Mass. to close

REVERE, Mass. — Wonderland Greyhound Park shut down after 75 years on Thursday, a move that follows the end of live dog racing in Massachusetts and the apparent demise of a casino gambling bill that might have allowed the track to lure patrons with slot machines.

Wonderland said in a statement that it was suspending business operations immediately because it could no longer compete in a “drastically changed gaming market” that includes casinos, slot parlors and a so-called racino in neighboring states.

Since a voter-approved ban on greyhound racing took effect on Jan. 1, the track had remained open for simulcasting, in which patrons can place bets on races being run in other states.

Richard Dalton, president and CEO of Wonderland, said remaining employees were notified this week that they would lose their jobs.

“This is an emotional day for all of us, and the most difficult part of it is the hardworking people who have been given notice that they no longer have a job,” said Dalton, who added that many of the employees had worked at the track for decades.

“Until the early 1990s when the Connecticut casinos opened, Wonderland was considered the premier greyhound track in the world,” Dalton said.

Dalton’s statement made no specific reference to the casino impasse at the Statehouse. A bill approved by the Legislature last month would authorize three resort-style casinos in Massachusetts and slot machines at two of the state’s four racetracks.

Gov. Deval Patrick refused to sign the measure, saying the slots provision amounted to “no bid contracts” for the tracks, and instead asked lawmakers to strip out the racino measure. The Legislature ended its formal session for the year July 31, and leaders have not signaled plans to return to Beacon Hill to consider the amendment.

Patrick said Wonderland’s plight was brought on by more than the failure of the casino bill.

“Let’s be clear, the voters voted more than a year ago to end dog racing in Massachusetts,” he said. “And so it has been a concern of mine and others from the beginning how we make a way for those who are being displaced by that decision.”

Wonderland and the Suffolk Downs horse racing track in Boston are both in the district of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who strongly backed slot machines at the tracks.

DeLeo faulted Patrick for contributing to the track’s demise and said, through a spokesman, that he would seek $2 million in work force retraining funds for track workers.

“A little more than two weeks ago, Speaker DeLeo warned that anything less than Gov. Patrick signing the compromise gaming bill … posed the risk that workers might be laid off,” DeLeo aide Seth Gitell said Thursday. “Now, regrettably, that warning has come to pass.”

Workers at the track Thursday gathered their belongings and got help signing up for unemployment. They said they were disappointed the track is closing, but not surprised.

“The business has gone to hell,” said Robert York, 68, a ticket seller at the track for 16 years. “There were not enough people to keep it open.”

Most patrons who showed up Thursday to find they could not enter Wonderland said the lively atmosphere at the track during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s had diminished considerably in recent years.

James Cook, 59, of Lynn, said there would be more than 10,000 people at the track during his visits in the early 1970s. Recently there would be only 15 to 20 people, he said.

“They put the nail in the coffin when people voted to ban dog racing,” Cook said. He also blames Patrick for not signing the gambling bill, which he said might have kept the track open.

Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA, a group that supported the greyhound racing ban, said “voters made this decision and did understand that making this humane choice would cause some people to go through a change.”

Wonderland and Suffolk Downs agreed in 2008 to partner in a potential casino development, which included an option for the owners of Suffolk Downs to buy Wonderland and develop the property should a casino be authorized at Suffolk Downs.

Suffolk Downs also remains open but has announced that it will reduce its average daily purse distribution by 26 percent for the second half of its 2010 racing season, bringing the average daily purse level for the last 50 days of the season from $89,000 to $66,000.

The Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville said this month that it was laying off 30 percent of its work force because of a drop in revenue and the political stalemate over gambling.

The state’s only other greyhound racing track said it would remain open for simulcasting.

George Carney, owner of Raynham Park, said he still hopes lawmakers and Patrick eventually will reach an agreement that will benefit the track.