Stumbling upon what's left of the old Longacres Racetrack

 

No Packer game today, but I’ll keep this sports related. A little over a month ago I was wandering around Renton, got myself kind of lost and stumbled upon this:

 

I wondered what the signposts which referred to "laps" were supposed to signify; an apparently abandoned road leading up to it marked as Longacres Drive did however gave me hint. Of course I had heard of something called Longacres in the distant past and knew it had something to do with racing, although I wasn’t certain if it was of the stock car or horse variety. A quick Googling indicated that this was the location of a horse racetrack in Renton that closed in 1992; it was probably no coincidence that the Emerald Downs track in Auburn opened in 1996.

As I wandered about to see if there were any “ruins” to see, I wondered about the “old days.” Longacres Racetrack first opened in 1933, which was somewhat curious since the country was well in the throes of the Great Depression and the only people who had money to blow betting on races were the local gentry. Gambling had been banned by state law in 1909, but some tax “horse-trading” with  state legislators and the governor allowed betting only on horseracing, which led to the establishment of a number of thoroughbred racetracks in the state. The first race at Longacres had a purse of $1,000—the equivalent of over $21,000 in today’s money. The winner of that first race was horse named Vetsera.

At the time, Longacres was said to boast “state-of-art” facilities, including an electronic-operated starting gate, computerized betting and later a sophisticated television center that monitored strategically-place cameras. Well into the 1980s improvements were made to expand seating, the club house and lounges that were equipped with closed circuit television to view the races. The track and the open area surrounding it remained relatively unchanged when this aerial photograph was taken in 1971:

 

Yet in 1992 the racetrack was closed and its facilities entirely destroyed. Washington had passed a law allowing a state lottery as a new, cheaper way for residents to gamble away their money. Longacres, which was losing attendance and revenue, countered by allowing “satellite” racing so that bettors didn’t need to be physically present at the track, and lighting was installed around the track for night racing. But it wasn’t enough. Boeing bought the property in 1990, allowed racing to continue for two more years, and in 1994 demolished everything still standing at the site, leaving behind what is called the “Boeing Pond” in the middle of it.

A Google map overview of the site still shows where the original poplar trees were planted—but now mostly dead or dying—around the curve of the southern edge of the track:

 

 

As mentioned, there is nothing now to suggest that a racetrack existed there, although a few curious artifacts are to be found. What’s left of the old parking lots…

 

 

these floor tiles in the middle of nowhere…

 

 

these abandoned walkways crisscrossing everywhere, some of them with lighting posts…

 

 

and these overheads lined with poplars:

 

 

There is also this heliport fixture, with buildings in the background apparently constructed by Boeing; the box states that it is a “radio operated light system”:

 

 

There is otherwise really nothing to see; around the pond is just empty fields with a few scrubby trees and bushes. The track itself has long been covered up by grass and weeds. Before I vacated the area I saw this; whether or not this is an old artifact of the past, who knows: