ROWLEY, Mass. — Now that Suffolk Downs is closed, developers have their eyes on Rowley as a potential new home for horse gambling in the state.
On Monday, so many people showed up at a meeting about the track that the fire chief had to shut it down.
The proposed race track would be between the police station in the town and a country club up Route 133. It's still in the very beginning planning stages but, judging by the turnout at Monday's meeting, there's a lot of interest in the proposal.
Boston 25 News caught up with the developer of the proposed $60 million thoroughbred track that would be built on a 284-acre plot off of Route 133.
"We want to build a one-mile race track with a turf course and bringing back thoroughbred racing," said John Grossi of Rowley Group LLC.
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Residents say they showed up with an open mind, but with a lot of questions that they never got to ask.
"You go and you say what happened to Suffolk, how come that didn’t fly? And Rockingham Park closed, so what makes them think this is a viable thing and in such a small town?" asked Chris Cassenti of Rowley.
The developers say that although they do plan on applying to simulcast races, unlike Suffolk Downs in Revere, they plan to stay focused on the horses.
"The return is in agriculture. Don't go by Revere and East Boston, the track is half and half," said Bill Lagorio of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "What happened there is management and a decision to close based on winning the casino license, it's not the industry."
And that's part of the reason the room was so packed – many were from neighboring towns.
"They had mentioned something about if they had the racetrack they could have an equestrian facility where they could have horse shows," said Joann Hamson of Danvers. "And I have horse shows and I show them and its very close."
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The meeting was intended to be a first presentation of the proposal. It's unclear when it will be rescheduled, but they intended to hold it in at a bigger venue. There will also be community meetings before anything moves forward.