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Dog-gone Wonderland Shuts Down
By oddjob60 on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 9:41am
The Globe reports that Wonderland Park "told employees this morning that it is suspending business operations after 75 years of business, succumbing to state law banning greyhound racing and the Legislature’s failure to pass laws allowing casino gambling."
75 to 80 workers appear to have lost their jobs.
A State House News Service article posted just yesterday summarizes the park's financial straits, including missed purse fund payments to the also-struggling Plainridge Racecourse, and includes this bit of no-longer-prescient foreshadowing:
“[Employees are] past the idea of long-term thinking,” said [Wonderland president Dick] Dalton. “They’ve resigned themselves to the fact that the glory days of Wonderland are behind us.”
Dalton said Wonderland would consider shuttering if no gambling agreement is reached, but professed “guarded optimism.”
Since the ban on dog racing took effect, the only races at Wonderland have been on simulcast screens.
(Edited to update Globe link.)
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Comments
I predict a jump in scratch
I predict a jump in scratch ticket sales and visits to Suffolk Downs in the Lynn/Revere/East Boston corridor.
Must be a typo
75 to 80 workers lost their jobs? There's got to be a couple more zeroes at the end of those numbers if DeLeo was right.
Just at the track
There are 75-80 workers who are employed by the track itself. I'm sure any proponent's estimates included all of the dog handlers, kennel mills, owners, vets, and assorted other ancillary employees who no longer have somewhere to run their dogs. Not that someone like the dog's vet won't do just fine from his other patients or whatever, but they always get roped into the number of people who will be "affected" by the loss of the business.
Blech
Boy, it's a good thing we banned dog racing, so a bunch of greyhounds can... what? Live rich, full lives of running around? Meanwhile, 80 human beings lose their livelihood and get thrown onto the unemployment rolls.
there are 580,000 unemployed people in MA
Meanwhile, unemployment in MA and population of MA.
For the lazy: 8.8% of 6.59M = 580,000 people on unemployment.
80 out of 580,000 = 0.013% of the total unemployed population. Statistically insignificant, like almost all of the "job creation" we see politicians bragging about. It doesn't help "jobs" to give a private business a giant tax waiver worth millions (especially since they're flee as soon as they get a better offer.)
What does help: benefits available to ALL businesses, especially SMALL ONES, to help them grow. No individual business should get special attention from the legislature.
Denominator Fail
The denominator in the unemployment rate isn't the total population but the population of adults seeking work who cannot find it.
That means that the unemployed population is much less than 580,000! Elderly/retired, disabled, stay-at-home parents/partners, part-time workers and children don't figure in to that total. The real number is more likely 8.8% of around 2 to 2.5 million people.
All the same, whether we are talking 600K people or 150K people, this is a drop in the ocean. Your point here is well taken.
Yeah, But...
The same argument can be made to fit whatever situation you feel like minimizing, and I consider it specious.
Each of those 75 or 80 people who lose a job certainly won't feel any better if you point out to them that their job loss is just "a drop in the ocean." Likewise, if 75 or 80 people gain jobs via what someone might term insignificant government action, they aren't going to feel any worse about having bread on the table again.
This is the same sort of argument made by folks who want to raise taxes ("It will only cost a penny!") when in fact the total amount will be in the billions, and also by those who wish to cut taxes ("The budget will only revert to 2004 levels!") when in fact services will be slashed dramatically. It is the substitution of numbers for the actual consideration of people's lives and feelings. And, generally speaking, it sucks.
Now, if the argument is about the plus or minus of tax breaks for businesses, and the relative worth of the jobs created, then it's a substantive and worthwhile thing to discuss, certainly. But belittling an individual's livelihood being taken away, by reducing it to a clever math problem, is cold, even for this Libertarian.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
.
.
Put it this way
It sucks to be them, but they got a hell of a lot more warning that their jobs may soon be gone than most of the other 200,000 or so people who are currently unemployed - like when my husband was laid off along with the more aged 1/3 of his company and the half day notice we got of cancellation of our health insurance.
One could argue why the state was even in this business to start with - or if the unemployment compensations will outweigh keeping the track open. I do feel sorry for people who share our boat now, but I don't feel sorry for buttressing Brett's point that 80 jobs is not a lot compared to the entire unemployment load in MA or even compared to how many private employers have axed people with little notice.
i wonder
I wonder if the slave industry thought the same thing after the civil war? Or people who run cockfights? Not the same thing I know, but as society progresses this is going to happen.
Stick a fork in it, it's done
Horse and dog racing are finished, kaput, done. This is the buggy whip business of the 21st century. Nobody goes anymore, the places are like ghost towns. The only reason they have survived this long is because of state subsidies and the chance of getting some type of casino license, with slots being the minumum. But the racing itself is done, it's time to move on.
Yes, I have empathy for the workers as I do for anybody that loses their job, but there are no options. Are we supposed to throw tax dollars at every restaurant/bar/gas station/convenience store/small business/ that closes?
Horse racing is finished?
Uhh, you ever been to this little hamlet called Saratoga? Or Lexington, Kentucky? Don't let sparse weekday crowds at Suffolk fool you.
Very small pockets trying to cling on
Yes, the classic places still make a go of it. But, have you been to Suffolk Downs, Plainville, Raynham? Rockingham and Lincoln RI don't even do live racing any more, it's all simulcast, most likely from the only two places with racing anymore - Saratoga and Churchill Downs. ;-)
It's toast, let it die.
Good work
Of the five sites you listed, only one offers thoroughbred horse racing. I'm not going to tell you that my beloved sport is thriving, but please don't try to put its struggles on par with those in greyhound or even standardbred racing.
Saratoga is dying, man. The
Saratoga is dying, man.
The Times Union had an article about it last year.
I don't believe that
Was there on Saturday...saw a facility full of happy fans, and went to a bar with nary an open seat in sight.
Yes. People show up on 6
Yes. People show up on 6 Saturdays a year in one idyllic town in upstate NY. That's not going to keep the sport alive.
Edit: And I'm not anti-horse racing. I love Saratoga. But that doesn't make it a financially healthy business.
I mean, they're still looking
I mean, they're still looking for more help from the state, as of two days ago.
Pinin' for the Fjords
Mike, stop throwing reality in Will's face. He couldn't get a seat in the bar. That's good enough for me. Racing's here to stay!!
Weird though. Why should horse racing just be plummeting and losing out to casinos when Nascar and other wheeled things with loud motors going really fast in a circle continues as a sport? I'm not a racing fan, but don't have anything against it. It's perceived as a sport and is in competition with other spectator sports for your entertainment dollar, while horse racing, also categorized as a sport, ends up in competition with casinos. Just to confuse things more, poker, a gambling endeavor, has become a spectator sport (I find that very retahded). Is there a relationship there somewhere...or something.
I'd rather go to a minor league ball game. Too bad about horse racing though. What's going to happen to all those Dick Francis novels?
The game does need a fix
I'd like to wave a magic wand and bring the young people to the game. They will come. 10 of my friends from Burlington took a limo down to Saratoga a couple of weeks ago. We need to create more events like that.
Major Problem
Will:
One of the major problems contributing to the decline of horse racing and dog racing is that they aren't the only games in town these days. Back in the 40's and 50's, when racing had it's best handles (per capita, adjusted for inflation, and correct me if that's a misjudgment) places like Suffolk and Rockingham were the only places you could go to LEGALLY gamble. The only legal casinos were in Las Vegas and Cuba, and the only lotteries were the Irish Sweepstakes and the numbers game run by your local bookie (and even that was based on the pari-mutuel handle.)
Now there are a dazzling array (or disgusting array, depending upon where you come down on the issue) of options for the gambler, most with a much quicker bang for your buck.
Horse racing can be thrilling to the extreme, full of passion and human interest, a marvelous athletic performance (if one wishes to pay attention to the jockeys, who are, pound for pound, maybe the best athletes on the planet), and a very pleasant way to spend a day if the plant you go to is kept up and the management cares about the clientele. But, it has lost all of the peripheral gamblers who pumped so much lifeblood into it in previous years. And no amount of education is likely to get them to return now that they get their adrenalin fix provided by scratchies at the corner packy.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Will's got a point, sort of
Look, I was at Suffolk on Monday, and it was depressing- except that I love being there, so it was great, but for a casual visitor weekday racing is depressing. Still, since most horse racing uses a bad business model (seriously, image if MLB still only played day games) it looks bad. Saratoga, Keeneland, and Del Mar do quite well, while their non-destination counterparts in Belmont, Churchill Downs, and Hollywood Park are on shaky ground. Still, I hit Emerald Downs in the Pacific Northwest, which should rate with Suffolk, and it was happening weeknights and week-ends. And there are no slots at the track and casinos all over the state. It can work.
As for greyhounds, I visited Raynham before the vote. I came away voting no (the dogs were having too much fun) and not caring about the sport. Even without the vote, the writing was on the wall. Still, a poor way to go out.
actual figures
Not to nitpick, but there are 312,300 unemployed people in Massachusetts, according to statistics released this morning, not 500,000-plus. Unemployed babies, toddlers and retirees don't count.
So shall we change the name
So shall we change the name of the T stop, and if so, to what?
Better public money would be spent
Better public money would be spent by buying the Wonderland racetrack property and then using it to connect the Blue Line to the commuter rail right of way for an extension to Salem.
Here's the stupid bitch responsible:
http://www.facebook.com/christine.dorchak?ref=search
Maybe she has a spare room that one of the laid off employees can stay in. Nice to see that in 2010, all you have to do is make up lies about somebody, and their industry gets outlawed. Why have an actual trial of actual guilty owners when you can use scare tactics and bullying to get your way?
I wish..
we could have a referendum to vote you off the planet, or at least to toss you into a room filled with women and minorities armed with clubs.
hey will, we've been over this...
... please refrain from calling women "stupid bitches". you don't like her? fine. but please find a less derogatory way to make your displeasure know.
disclaimer: i know christine personally and, imho, she is neither stupid nor a bitch.
They used to race at Wonderland
Stupid bitches, that is. Greyhounds are fairly inbred, and not bred for smarts.
She isn't?
Then why did she campaign to get a sport banned instead of getting only the bad people banned from it?
because the "sport" is inherently abusive...
not just in massachusetts, but everywhere. many of these animals are treated horribly, live short lives, and are treated like a commodity instead of a living creature.
some things are so totally broken that they can not be fixed with bandaid measures. i personally believe that dog racing is one of those things.
keep in mind, *she* didn't get the sport banned. she simply campaigned to get the laws changed. the voters are the ones who got it banned.
disagree all you want with whether or not greyhound racing should be banned. i don't care. we do not have to agree on this. but your total and unrelenting misogyny is uncalled for. so please, kindly, quit it.
To be fair, Bandit
If a guy had done this, I would have called him a stupid prick.
I'm an equal opportunity offender. If you do something I don't like, I will attack you. My use of "bitch" isn't misogyny, it's specific.
I like ladies. I like nice ones that are honest and don't try to mislead people. I like you.
Convert Wonderland
Instead of all the clamoring to change these places to casinos, thus furthering their seedy nastiness...
Why don't the stupid owners convert their race tracks to race tracks.
Last I checked Loudon, NH regularly sells out their NASCAR events and sells well even for less popular motor racing divisions.
Look they're even hiring:
http://www.nhms.com/speedway/employment/
So pave over the crappy dirt (unless you want to run dirt track events but those are less popular north of the Mason-Dixon), renovate the stands and facilities and start inviting various auto racing associations to tour your new facilities.
Massachusetts has almost no top class racing venues. Why don't those idiots who own the dog tracks take advantage of that market gap?
Huh?
You want to turn a 500-yard greyhound racecourse into a motorsports facility?
Ovals are Square
Make it a road course. With a few modifications such as the location of the back stretch stands you could expand and have lots of wonderful curves for sports cars.
Also not all ovals need be Daytona sized. Look at Bristol.
build a velodrome
It seems to me (not that I've run a business plan or anything) that you could build a velodrome there, keep gambling and have a facility that can be used to generate revenue outside of race times.
Not sure if I can post links here or not, but go to youtube and search keirin racing if you don't know what it is. People that want to bet will probably be happy betting on this, others may just like to watch the racing. The other thing is that there's no velodrome near Boston so you could lease it out for courier races or various other sanctioned track racing events. Hell, you could have the US Olympic track team qualifiers here.
The way I see it is that if the owners haven't at least explored plans like this they don't really want to save the track/jobs.
If we get Nascar, do we have
If we get Nascar, do we have to become a Red State?
Depends how you regard New Hampshire these days
as they've had NASCAR for many years now. And they have gay marriage, just like us.