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Politics & Government

Bowie Training Center Will Stay Open This Year

The city will get more state funds for street repair and maintenance.

The Bowie Race Course Training Center will remain open through 2011, according to city lobbyist Len Lucchi.

“Nothing is going to happen in the near future,” Lucchi said of the facility on Race Track Road, where more than 600 racehorses are housed.

Horse racing ended at Bowie in 1985, but the track has been in use since 1914.

Mayor G. Frederick Robinson said the city wants to minimize future development on the site, preserving most of it for “trees or ballfields,” he said, should the training facility shut down.

The owners of the training center—Penn National Gaming Inc. and Magna International Development—do not have a common position on plans for the facility, Lucchi said, during a wrap-up of the 90-day legislative session which ended earlier this month.

But legislation passed this session will give the state the first right of refusal for purchasing the property and the city would be next in line with an option to buy it if the training center is no longer needed.

Councilman Todd Turner said the city needs to be prepared should the facility be shuttered.

“We need to get our ducks in a row,” Turner said. “I think it’s an area worth preserving given its history. It’s something we need to start thinking about.”

The City of Bowie will receive about $547,000 more than expected in state highway user revenues. The city expected to only get about $100,000 this year as the highway fund has been chipped away over the past several years. The city received $3.1 million in highway funds in 2007.

City Manager David Deutsch said the additional funds will pay for street resurfacing.

“Our roads are needing work. We are seeing potholes which used to be quite abnormal for us,” said Deutsch. “We are seeing the strain of the reduced allocation.”   

In addition:   

The city will receive $105,000 to help pay for the $1.1 million Whitemarsh Turf Field and $25,000 for Church Road Park.

Bowie State University will receive $1.3 million for improvements to Bulldog Stadium.

The Prince George’s Hospital System will receive $15 million in funding to keep it afloat.

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