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Harness racing, shown here on the closing night at Balmoral Park in Crete in December 2015, could get underway in Tinley Park next December.
John Smierciak/Daily Southtown
Harness racing, shown here on the closing night at Balmoral Park in Crete in December 2015, could get underway in Tinley Park next December.
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Should state regulators approve plans for harness racing in Tinley Park, a temporary facility could be quickly built and start hosting races by December 2020, according to an application filed with the Illinois Racing Board.

The application for harness racing dates filed by Playing In The Park says the transitional track and stands could be put in place for races while a permanent facility, which is estimated to cost nearly $75 million, is being built.

The harness track is planned for the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center, northwest of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street. Tinley Park has been in negotiations with the state to acquire the roughly 280-acre site.

Along with hosting harness racing, the facility would have casino gambling, such as slot machines, with the combination dubbed a racino. It and a separate south suburban casino are a result of legislation signed into law in late June that expands gambling throughout the state.

Existing and new horse racing tracks could have as many as 1,200 gambling positions — a combination of slot machines and seats at table games such as blackjack or poker.

Playing In The Park’s principals are Rick Heidner, a commercial real estate owner and developer, and Timothy Carey, general manager of Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, according to the Illinois secretary of state’s office.

Heidner and Tinley Park are negotiating a redevelopment agreement for the state-owned property.

Previously, Heidner had been part of a development group that proposed putting up hundreds of homes on the site.

The Illinois Racing Board is scheduled to meet Sept. 17 to consider next year’s horse racing dates, including the Tinley Park application.

The track would be part of a larger commercial complex on about 120 acres that also would include a restaurant, a nightclub and luxury hotels, according to the application, obtained by the Daily Southtown through a public records request.

A 31/2-story grandstand would have 4,000 seats and feature executive suites and an executive lounge on the upper level, according to the application.

Playing In The Park notes the planned site for the racino is “in the heart of a vibrant entertainment district” that includes the village’s convention center, several hotels and the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

“No other site can match its redevelopment potential in terms of the quality of the facility that can be constructed and placement of surrounding uses that will guarantee the track’s economic and job creating viability for generations to come,” according to the application, which describes the property as “a sleeping giant in terms of its potential to be an economic beacon to the region and the state at large.”

The Tinley Park track would be the first harness racing track to open in the state since Maywood Park in Melrose Park opened in 1946. Both Maywood and Balmoral Park in Crete, which also hosted harness racing, closed in 2015.

The state’s horse racing industry hopes that the addition of casino games will give a lift to the sport, and Playing In The Park touts the opportunity to position an “old sport in new ways to a new audience” in order to “recast the appeal of racing.”

Initially, plans call for horse racing three nights per week from Dec. 6 through Dec. 29, 2020, according to its application.

Once the permanent facility is completed, the plan is for a “highly concentrated racing schedule with highly competitive races with high stakes purses” in order to attract the top horses and drivers from throughout the country, according to the application.

Partnering in the Tinley Park project is Suburban Downs Inc., which conducts harness racing at Hawthorne.

Playing In The Park notes that the Tinley Park track isn’t meant to compete with Suburban Downs, and that “our business plan depends on a co-operational relationship with Suburban Downs that will increase the market for racing at a faster pace than would be possible” if there were a single track.

A separate application with the Illinois Gaming Board would need to be filed for the casino portion of the track.

The gambling expansion law allows a south suburban casino in one of six townships: Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich, Thornton or Worth. The racino would be permitted in one of those six townships as well as Orland Township, where the state property is located.

No other applications for racing dates, other than the Tinley Park site, were filed with the racing board for a new harness racing facility.

Playing In The Park estimates that constructing the grandstand and a “festival lawn” in the middle of the track will cost more than $61 million, while the track itself will be $4.4 million, according to the application.

Building the paddock and barns is estimated to cost $2 million, while parking for 3,500 vehicles is expected to run $5 million, according to the application.