At a recent press conference at the Maryland Economic Development Association winter conference, State Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Prince George’s) told attendees, “If you’re for business and you’re for demographics, [the Preakness Stakes] should be in Laurel.”
Miller’s comments come on the heels of the recent Maryland Stadium Authority report, which outlined one possible approach to reinventing Pimlico Race Course, in northern Baltimore City, to enable it to remain the home of the Preakness at a cost of $424 million.
The report called for the track’s complete demolition and rebuilding. “It’s a lot of money,” Miller said. “If an investor wants to build it, that’s fine, but for the state to come up with $400 million without doing anything for the communities in the surrounding areas is going to be very difficult to do.”