What happened to the old Phoenix Greyhound Park?
Only in Arizona: Waning consumer interest in dog racing and a series of cases against the industry led to its 2009 closure – yet created an opportunity for retailers and those seeking loving pets
- Phoenix Greyhound Park closed in 2009 and a park in Tucson closed last year
- Arizona Adopt a Greyhound finds homes for about 100 retired racing greyhounds per year
- Bargain hunters flock here each week to Phoenix Park 'n Swap at the old Phoenix track
PomaPoo, Dusky, LabraDoodle and other designer dogs aside, there was a time in Phoenix when the lanky, athletic, humble greyhound was the “it” dog. They were seemingly everywhere.
It was a little startling at first when you'd see them, bulging thigh muscles, long snouts and tails, big teeth, but always soft, sweet eyes. And so calm. Sometimes they appeared tired as if having led a rough life, which many had.
Owners usually felt compelled to explain that they were retired racing dogs from the old Phoenix Greyhound Park.
The breed was en vogue for awhile, when animal cruelty cases directed at dog racing surfaced locally in the 1990s and early 2000s. Adoptions soared during that time, and again after the Phoenix track at Washington and 40th Streets closed in 2009.
“(Arizona Adopt a Greyhound) currently finds homes for about 100 retired racing greyhounds per year,” volunteer Elizabeth Stoltz says. “Many may not have raced in Arizona, but some may have raced in Tucson prior to the track closing in mid-2016.”
We love the breed.
But what about the track?
So what happened to the old track just north of Sky Harbor Airport? I remember going there occasionally as an ASU student as cheap entertainment. It seemed exciting with its bright lights, gleaming polished floors, $1 beer, and big green and yellow neon sign on Washington that read “Dog Racing.”
Massive panoramic windows, several stories tall, overlooked the track and, of course, those lightening-fast greyhounds chasing a mechanical bunny along the inside rail.
Well, the track, buildings and parking lots are still there, but it's now owned by Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North, a national food and beverage sports concessionaire.
And while the canines no longer run at Phoenix Greyhound Park, the large venue is well-suited to a different type of sport — shopping — and bargain hunters flock here each week to Phoenix Park 'n Swap. Clothing and apparel, collectibles and consumer electronics, new and used items, spans across the grounds of the old track. Fry bread and kettle corn wafts over the scene.
And if it's any consolation, small dogs are allowed at the Park 'n Swap.
It all seems sort of surreal in the shadows of the towering aged Phoenix Greyhound Park grandstand.
Dog racing today
The only way to now watch live dog racing and to bet on them is via a television simulcast at one of the off-track sports bars around town. There's no longer dog racing in Arizona, but places like Palm Beach, Fla., and Mobile, Ala., still have tracks and broadcast the races.
“Working with other adoption groups across the country, we continue to place retired racers in loving, permanent homes,” Stoltz says. “Retired racing greyhounds are great family pets.”
That's a bet worth making.
Contact “Only in Arizona” columnist Mark Nothaft at marknothaft.onlyinaz@gmail.com. Send him the weird and fun facts and places found #OnlyInArizona.
Arizona Adopt a Greyhound
602-971-6935
www.arizonaadoptagreyhound.org
Phoenix Park 'n Swap
3801 E. Washington St., Phoenix
602-273-1250
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