The Director's Room at Santa Anita Park. (Photo by Shawmut)
Historic Santa Anita Park got all dressed up to the tune of $15 million in upgrades and renovations just in time for its biggest event of the year, the 2013 Breeders’ Cup World Championships held at the famed track Nov. 1-2.
Consider this one a sprint to the finish line for a project that started on July 8 and was completed on Sept. 27 in time for the track’s autumn meet season. While you are at it, consider the more long-term, marathon approach of what the venue believes is money well spent to entice guests to come to the track for the live event experience for years to come.
“Our business model has changed,” said Tom Ludt, vice president of racing and gaming for the Stronach Group, the parent owner of Santa Anita Park, which is located in Arcadia, Calif., near Los Angeles and celebrating its 80th anniversary at the same time the Breeders’ Cup turned 30. “There are a lot of options for people now to experience events at home or via computers or phones. We want to draw people back to the experience.
“The NFL is trying to figure out how to keep fans coming back to the actual live event. If the greatest sporting product in the country is dealing with that, you can imagine an event like horse racing. We’re trying to create the pageantry, the climate, the atmosphere and the enthusiasm for people to be at the event versus on television or elsewhere.”
As for the rapid turnaround of the renovation, Ludt said the tight window had much to do with the ongoing race schedule at the track and that partner Shawmut Design and Construction did a “phenomenal job in a time frame that was quite difficult.”
“We wanted to get it done before the opening of our autumn meet season (Sept. 27),” Ludt added. “It was a work in progress, but we pulled it off and we’re excited that it went very, very well. We had a spectacular Breeders’ Cup weekend, so everybody’s smiling.”
Despite a postcard backdrop of the majestic San Gabriel Mountains that has earned Santa Anita Park widespread acclaim by many as the world’s most beautiful race track, there was still plenty to be accomplished in renovations to bring the venue up-to-date, most notably with regards to technology.
View of the track from Eddie Logan Suite. (Photo by Shawmut)
Eric Geisler, senior project manager for Shawmut and based out of Las Vegas, said that the mezzanine area was the biggest area where the audiovisual system was upgraded. In addition, Geisler said that the Chandelier Room, Director’s Room, Americana Room, VIP Entry and season boxes were other areas that have a new and fresh look that Gesier said, “for lack of a better term, brings a 21st century look and feel all the way around.”
“The track had a large-scale AV system in place but didn’t broadcast in high definition,” Geisler said. “We partnered with one of our vendors, Partners Resource Group, to implement a new system that is a dramatic upgrade.”
Geisler said that many of the technologies were deployed in a smaller scale to the other areas of the track as well. “In the sports book room alone, there are 32 HD televisions tied along two walls for the higher-end gamblers. It’s more of a private, luxury-type setting. It’s really done wonders for the track and that is one of the things that people notice.”
While technology and upgrades across the board are evident, some areas such as the popular 220-seat capacity Chandelier Room bring the future and the past to a perfect intersection.
“We refinished the Art Deco bar and the floors to bring the room back to its original state,” Ludt said. “The Chandelier Room was actually redone retro back to the day. When you get off the elevator there’s a picture of the old cars lined up at the track. We’ve got a vintage Harley-Davidson sitting there with the sidecar and great black-and-white pictures as you turn right to go down the hallway into the Chandelier Room.”
The Chandelier Room in fact underwent the most significant transformation with an added exterior balcony to the top of the two existing staircases, allowing natural light and a stunning view of the mountain range to illuminate the space.
While Santa Anita Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, it is the future that has everyone excited.
“We spent money, but it’s an expense that is part of customer satisfaction, and that’s something that we put an enormous amount of time and money on,” Ludt said. “This was the Breeders’ Cup 30th anniversary and people said it was the best one ever. People were just overwhelmed with how nice (the track) was and it helped that we had great racing. The product and the facility was an overwhelming wow.”
Interviewed for this article: Eric Geisler, (800) 230-7625; Tom Ludt, (626) 574-6380