Plainridge Park Casino's road to Plainville

By Harnesslink · 22 June 2015 · 7:30 am

From an abandoned gravel pit, through scandals and squabbles, comes Plainridge Park Casino, now seen as a savior for a tiny town and harness racing in Massachusetts.

In the mid-1990s, before a former gravel pit off Route 1 in Plainville became a harness horse track, it was an illegal dumping site and a problem for the town.

"It was a scar upon the landscape," Plainville Selectwoman Andrea Soucy said.

Soucy said she was happy weeds and brush had grown high enough to obscure the view of the site.

Wednesday, that former gravel pit turned racetrack will become the first expanded gambling venue in Massachusetts. Penn National Gaming will open a glitzy, $225 million slot machine parlor it is calling Plainridge Park Casino.

The troubled site will also become by far the town's greatest generator of revenue, paying Plainville about $2 million in property taxes and another $2.7 million in fees annually.

An estimated 500 people will be employed at the slot parlor and racetrack.

The journey from blight to cash cow has been one of controversy and wild swings of fortune.

"There has been a lot of controversy and a lot of discord over time," said Robert Fennessy, who was a selectman when Plainridge came to town.

Once upon a time

The story began when Robert Kraft, now the owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, closed a harness track on his land in Foxboro, next to the former Foxboro Stadium.

People involved in the racing industry were looking for a place to build a new track and settled on the 80 acres just south on Route 1 in Plainville.

They were led by Gary Piontkowski, the former manager of the Foxboro track and a former state racing commissioner, and Lou Giuliano, the former president of the Harness Horseman's Association.

The first issue

The awarding of the racing license for the track was one of the first controversies.

The group won a license in 1997, but gave it back after an abutter filed suit.

Then Piontkowski filed suit against the racing commission chairman and state police for a highly critical report on an investigation into his investors.

His group ended up winning another license, but commission Chairman Robert Hutchinson voted against it, claiming new investors were not vetted.

There were also allegations that the other two commissioners had been overly favorable to Piontkowski, the board's former chairman.

The track and a barebones metal clubhouse were quickly constructed and it opened for simulcasting in March 1999. Live racing began in April 1999.

But, investors were soon at war with each other.

Piontkowski and Giuliano got in a legal battle over ownership of the track.

At one point, Giuliano tried to get his own racing license.

Piontkowski eventually prevailed.

Over the years, the troubles continued. There was an unsolved robbery that security cameras somehow missed. A suspect was later found murdered in Rhode Island.

There were allegations of illegal betting over telephones.

Harness racing continued, but the track was never a big money maker. Owners set their eyes on slot machines as a savior.

Gambling proposals

Proposals to legalize gambling came and went at the Statehouse, with Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders arguing for five years about the details. Finally, in November 2011 a bill authorizing three casinos and one slot parlor was signed into law.

Almost immediately, Piontkowski and his group started building a $25 million parking garage in anticipation of winning that slot license.

They were taking a tremendous gamble because the garage started going up before the formal process of applying for a license even began.

There was no assurance that the group with no experience in running casinos would win it.

Then came the biggest shock of all.

Piontkowski suddenly and unexpectedly quit in April 2013, seemingly on the verge of winning his years-long fight for a gaming license. He cited health problems, again a surprise because he seemed perfectly healthy at public hearings.

Soon, it was revealed that the state gaming commission in checking out Plainridge's background found that Piontkowski had taken more than $1 million from the track's money room over 10 years.

The commission found that the investors were unsuitable for a gaming license, saying the investigation "revealed that there appears to have been a culture of fear and concealment pervasive in the operations of Plainridge."

All seemed lost and horsemen started preparing for the track to close and their way of life to come to an end.

"We were looking down the barrel of a shotgun," General Manager of Racing Steve O'Toole said of the horse-racing community.

Fennessy said the town felt betrayed. Although there was always controversy at the track, people had put their faith in Piontkowski and the rest of group.

"We had come to look at them as neighbors," he said.

Just when all seemed lost, Penn National Gaming, one of the largest gambling companies in the country, came to the rescue.

Penn National had been shut out of attempts to get a casino in Springfield and then Tewksbury.

To get back in the game, it needed a new site in a welcoming town – and quick. It found Plainville.

"They had a group and needed a site. We had a site and needed a group," Fennessy said.

Penn National bought an option on the land, beat out two competitors and won the state's only slot parlor license after 76 percent of town voters supported its effort in a referendum.

Fennessy said it could not have worked out better for the town. It now has a reputable, deep-pocketed company running the show at Plainridge, so maybe the controversies will end.

"It may have been for the best. They are the big guns and they know what they are doing. They have the resources and the expertise," he said.

Key dates in Plainridge's history
July 1997: Sheriffs lock up Foxboro Park as owner Robert Kraft closes the track leaving Massachusetts without a harness racing venue.

September 1997: Plainville selectmen vote to accept a plan to bring harness horse racing to an 80-acre site off Route 1.

Dec. 5, 1998: Groundbreaking for $11 million harness horse track.

March 17, 1999: Plainridge opens for simulcasting, but not live racing.

April 19, 1999: Live harness racing resumes in Massachusetts after a two-year absence.

Nov. 22, 2011: Gov. Deval Patrick signs a bill authorizing three casinos and a slot-machine parlor.

April 4, 2013: Gary Piontkowski unexpectedly retires as head of Plainridge Racecourse.

Aug. 5, 2013: Plainridge Racecourse owners doing business as Ourway Realty found to be unsuitable for a gambling license by state Gaming Commission.

Sept. 3, 2013: Penn National Gaming signs and option to purchase Plainridge Racecourse if it gets a slots license.

Sept. 10, 2013: Town voters approve an agreement between selectmen and Penn National with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Feb. 27, 2014: State Gaming Commission votes 3-2 to grant Penn National Gaming the lone slot-machine parlor license.

April 29, 2014: Penn National Gaming officially buys Plainridge Racecourse for $42 million

November 2014: State voters reject a proposal to repeal the casino law.

June 18, 2015: State Gaming Commission approved operating certificate.

June 24, 2015: Plainridge Park Casino schedule to open to the public.