Belmont Park grandstand, clubhouse demolition set to begin

The initial stages of the demolition of the current Belmont Park grandstand and clubhouse are set to begin on April 5, according to the New York Racing Association.

The demolition is expected to take place over the next four to six months, bringing down the 1.25 million-square-foot building. The project will require a host of engineers and experts who have been “tasked with deliberately removing usable materials to honor the legacy of a building opened to the public in 1968,” according to a news release from NYRA.

Seventy five percent of the materials will be recycled including concrete, steel copper and aluminum. The material will be processed on-site by NYRA, which the organization said “will significantly reduce truck traffic and emissions.”

The new Belmont Park, which is being designed by architectural firm Populous in conjunction with NYRA, will be centered around a roughly 250,000-square-foot building featuring the modern amenities and hospitality offerings sports fans now expect.

NYRA has developed a project plan that will allow the Belmont Stakes to return to Belmont Park in June 2026 prior to the full opening of the new building, which is scheduled for September 2026.

Throughout the last year of the redevelopment project, NYRA has preserved and stored Belmont’s extensive collection of racing artwork and murals that adorned the walls of Belmont’s interior spaces.

NYRA has also preserved well-known artifacts at Belmont, such as the wrought-iron gates of the late, great Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx, which were donated to the organization by August Belmont Jr.’s son, Perry Belmont, in 1937.

The wrought-iron fencing from the clubhouse entrance and the paddock featuring the colors of each of the 13 Triple Crown winners have been safely removed and will be stored for future use, according to NYRA’s news release.

“NYRA is the steward of this historic New York State property, and our goal as an organization is to create an open and accessible space that balances history while moving Belmont Park into the future,” said David O’Rourke, NYRA president and chief executive.

The Japanese White Pine, which has seen 13 horses win the Triple Crown and elevated the paddock experience for generations of fans, will be surveyed and protected “to the greatest extent possible” throughout the demolition and construction phases.

Secretariat’s statue, made by John Skeaping, has been transported to Saratoga Race Course to welcome spectators at the venue. It will be placed in a public area adjacent to the Walk of Fame through the duration of the project in Elmont.

Glen Kozak, executive vice president of operations and capital projects at NYRA, has been deeply involved with the project over the last two years, setting the stage for the construction of a new building.

“The NYRA team has approached this process with great care from the very beginning,” he said in the news release. “Belmont Park is a special place, and we are racing fans who have a deep respect for what this property means to the history of the sport. Sustainability is not just about being environmentally responsible by reducing emissions and waste. It also means that the new Belmont Park will quite literally contain materials that have been part of the site for decades.”

In August of 2023, NYRA transported the remains of Hall of Fame filly Ruffian from the Belmont Park infield to the grounds of Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where the 1970s-era champion was foaled and raised. Ruffian now rests at Claiborne’s Marchmont Cemetery, the final resting place of numerous legends of the sport.

NYRA also transported the remains of Timely Writer, winner of the 1981 Hopeful and Champagne, from the infield area at the top of the stretch at Belmont to Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky.