The latest renovations will focus on new premium spaces. (Rendering by Populous)
Officials at venerable horse-racing venue Churchill Downs have announced plans to build 20 private, open-air Winner’s Circle Suites, a new courtyard and an enhanced trackside winner’s circle. Construction on the racetrack project is slated to begin in December after the racetrack’s Fall Meet, and will be complete before the start of the 2015 Spring Meet on April 25.
The new Winner’s Circle Suites, each of which can accommodate up to 18 people, will be located under the Twin Spires between the sixteenth pole and the finish line, adjacent to the Trackside Winner’s Circle. The suites will feature undercover seating, in-venue wagering and full-service hospitality, including premium food and an open bar, as well as access to a semiprivate hospitality area and exclusive restrooms.
“We think that, through the Courtyard and the Winner’s Circle Suites, we’re introducing a premium product right near the finish line that will be the kind of location and experience that fans have been asking for,” said Churchill Downs General Manager Ryan Jordan. “We’re excited to provide it to them.”
The new suites and courtyard will be created by converting existing Clubhouse box seats in Sections 118 and 119 on the south side of the paddock runway, Grandstand bleacher seats in Section 119, and one-third of Grandstand Section 120 on the paddock runway’s north side. Total seating in the areas before renovation was 3,345, and the new space arrangement will mean about 1,500 fewer seats in those areas. Total reserved seating at Churchill Downs is about 55,000.
“It’s such a great location,” said Jordan, who added that the premium seating will be available for rent or sale on race days outside of Derby Week. “We’re excited about the great views that this venue will have and the proximity to the finish line.”
The 140th Kentucky Derby took place May 2-3, 2014. (Photo by Dan Dry)
The new Courtyard lawn will provide space during Derby Week for more than 600 premium seats situated in front of the new Winner’s Circle Suites. The guests in this section and those sitting in existing Sections 218-219 will have access to the exclusive amenities available to Winner’s Circle Suites' patrons.
“We’re working on different programs for how to utilize that space,” explained Jordan. “It could be programmed differently on a regular race day and on our Downs After Dark racing events and some other premium days.”
Another element of the racetrack renovations is the remodeling and repositioning of The Trackside Winner’s Circle. Following renovations, it will be directly next to the paddock runway on the south side.
“We’re repositioning the Winner’s Circle so that it will be right in the center of this project site with the new suites and courtyard located around it,” said Jordan. “The views, the proximity, the access to the Winner’s Circle will be improved for everybody.”
The Churchill Downs project is being designed by Kansas City-headquartered architectural and event design firm Populous.
“It’s a very traditional facility rich in history and one of the best known places in the country if not the world,” noted Stewart Ervie, project leader and senior architect with the firm. “Renovations in the past have been fairly consistent in terms of architecture and field style. They’ve had some expansion that utilized a lot of the traditional white brick and green awning used throughout the complex.”
A traditional bugle player heightens excitement at Churchill Downs. (Photo by Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau)
This is the first time that Churchill Downs has contracted Populous for designing structural work, though Ervie noted that Populous’ Events & Accreditation team has previously done some track certifications for Churchill Downs and has also been involved in a spatial/structural inventory of the facility.
“We looked at their experience and some of the big venues they’ve worked on and how they focus on all the details of a project,” said Churchill Downs’ Jordan. “Populous’ experience in designing live entertainment venues, outside just horse racing, is something that translates very well to this project.”
The general contractor on the Churchill Downs project will be Louisville-based Calhoun Construction. PC Sports, a division of Texas-based Raba Kistner, Inc., has also been retained to serve as a third-party consultant and owner’s representative.
According to Churchill Downs officials, more than $178 million has been devoted in the last decade to improvements at the facility, most recently including renovations of the Grandstand Terrace and Rooftop Garden and the installation of the 4K ultrahigh definition “Big Board.”
The funding for this newest renovation project and previous ones comes from general revenues accrued by racing operations at Churchill Downs and from parent company Churchill Downs Inc., a company with holdings that include five racetracks, six casinos, an online wagering business and other racing and wagering business ventures.
“We’re a big facility – about 1.6 million square feet – so we can’t renovate the entire facility every single year,” said Jordan. “We choose different parts of the facility to renovate as we can. This is just an evolution of that plan to meet what today’s customers are looking for.”
Interviewed for this story: Stewart Ervie, (816) 221-1500; Ryan Jordan, (502) 636-4400