With its continued operation at stake, the Birmingham Race Course on Wednesday asked the Birmingham Racing Commission for emergency funds that could be worth more than $1 million over the next year.
The commission approved the requests in two 3-1 votes.
First, the Race Course will be able to use $400,000 for track improvements by taking money out of an escrow account meant to aid horse racing. The last horse race at the track in eastern Birmingham took place 15 years ago.
Second, the Race Course will end contributions that it has made since 1992. The contributions totaled 2.5 percent of the greyhound handle, the amount of money wagered on greyhound races. That handle in 2009 was $34 million and the contribution totaled $850,000 for more than 50 public agencies and charities ranging from volunteer fire departments to schools.
The Race Course will continue to set aside a separate 2 percent of its total pari-mutuel handle as required by state law.
In 2009, the total handle -- which includes bets placed locally on horse races simulcast from other tracks across the country -- was $68 million, netting $1.36 million for the set-aside fund. That money pays for Racing Commission expenses with the rest doled out to the agencies.
The Race Course has had a yearly decline in betting for the past 13 years. If that trend continues, the savings for the Race Course from ending the voluntary contributions could be less than $850,000 over the next year.
Chairman Charles Crockrom said the commission had to act now.
"If it closes, what do we have?" he said.
Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins voted against both moves.
"Are you telling me the Racing Commission is responsible for the continued operation of this facility?" she asked Crockrom.
The crisis at the Race Course was caused by the closing of electronic bingo at VictoryLand in Macon County, said William "Kip" Keefer, executive secretary for the Racing Commission.
"When the VictoryLand closings began in mid-July, the corporate office said this operation would have to become self-sustaining," Keefer said. Both facilities are owned by Montgomery businessman Milton McGregor.
General Manager Joe O'Neill said the Race Course has been losing money for several years and had been subsidized by the bingo profits.
"We've laid off 74 people in the last four months," he told the commission. "Football season is coming, and that's a tough time. The economic impact of this facility is still important -- we still have 175 people employed here."
Keefer said that the Racing Commission employs about 25 more people at the track, and 100 people work in the kennels, where about 800 dogs are housed. The horse barns are empty.
The numbers for the greyhound racing handles and the total handles at the Race Course peaked in 1993. The total handle that year was $163 million. By 2009 that had dropped 58 percent to just $68 million.
The greyhound racing handle is the money bet on live and simulcast greyhound races. The additional money in the total handle is the betting on horse racing simulcasts.
Horse racing supporters at the meeting spoke against using the escrow money, which otherwise would remain reserved until horse racing returned to the track.
Crockrom told them, "What we're trying to do -- whether you're on the greyhound side or the thoroughbred side -- is to keep this facility open. We've got to get some assistance."
"If we let it go down, there will be no return of horse racing or greyhound racing," he said.
The $400,000 will not be released until the Race Course delivers an itemized list of improvements and modernization it will undertake, Keefer said.
O'Neill said he plans to upgrade the simulcast equipment, climate controls and the overall aesthetics of the building.
The Race Course will be able to immediately stop paying the 2.5 percent contribution in its weekly payments, Keefer said. Collins said she wanted to see a report on the amounts that the Race Course has spent on repairs and maintenance in the past.
Keefer said the track has declined because people who wager on horse and dog races tend to be older.
"A lot of our base has just died off," he said. "If you come here on a racing day, the number of young people you see is appallingly low."
One effort to attract younger visitors consists of two large screens recently set up to show football games, Keefer said. Last week they showed the Alabama game on the 30-foot screen and the Auburn game on the 15-foot screen, creating a sports bar atmosphere.
But at the Race Course, as well as at VictoryLand and Greenetrack, the real elephant in the room is still the fight over electronic bingo. In several other states, horse racing survives because casino gaming helps subsidize purses.
"If we could put bingo in here," said O'Neill, "that would drastically change things. We could have horse racing and improved greyhound racing."
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