When Kentucky legalized historical horse racing machines (HHR), it saved a number of Kentucky racetracks, one of them being Turfway Park. But the facilities weren’t up to speed for a modern gaming floor, so the Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc. understood it needed to upgrade and demolished the existing grandstand to build a brand new gaming operation.
It was under those circumstances that the company and R2Architects opened the doors to its new ground-up, state-of-the-art Turfway Park Racing & Gaming entertainment venue on September 1. The $230 million investment of this 153,000-square-foot facility and its grounds is in Florence, Kentucky, near the border between Kentucky and Ohio.
Turfway Park Racing & Gaming is a multi-faceted entertainment destination facility that features approximately 850 HHRs, tempting dining spots, live entertainment, sports bar, VIP gaming lounge and a 1,000-person special events space. It is the home to winter thoroughbred horse racing in Kentucky. Turfway Park is one of two live thoroughbred racetracks in the Cincinnati, Ohio, region. The new venue boasts major site improvements to the property’s grounds, a Tapeta synthetic racing surface, and upgrades to its backside facilities and equine operation infrastructure.
The facility opened its gaming floor with a grand opening that featured Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and other regional dignitaries. Senior leaders from Churchill Downs Inc. and Turfway Park commemorated the special occasion with a $50,000 charitable donation to be split between two local charities: Easter Seals Redwood and I Have Wings Breast Cancer Foundation.
The gaming floor design creates an exciting guest experience. The interior space showcases an updated contemporary design with tall ceilings, upgraded finishes, custom accent lighting, and high-tech LED video walls and sound systems making for an energetic and fun experience. The guests navigate the gaming floor and all its amenities easily through distinctly designed custom carpeted pathways that feature patterns deliberately created to aid guests with their sense of direction. The guest-friendly gaming floor was laid out to encourage easy circulation flow with short gaming machine aisleway lengths and clear sightlines to other points of interest on the gaming floor. Easy-to-read wayfinding and destination signage within the gaming floor help to create a pleasant gaming floor experience. The lineup of food and beverage outlets and unique VIP amenities are seamlessly integrated into the gaming floor layout, making for an exciting “end to end” guest experience.
The Special Events Room is accessed from a beautiful hallway lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that boast direct views to the grounds. The room can easily seat 750 guests in a formal setting and accommodate over 1,000 guests for live racing, special events, gaming tournaments and music performances.
The main kitchen is designed to support the various dining outlets as well as to scale up on demand and accommodate the requirements of serving hundreds of guests for a special event. The room is fitted with two massive custom LED video screens, creating endless options for the broadcasting of video content and ready for sport betting once legalized in Kentucky.
Turfway Park Racing & Gaming
Owner: Churchill Downs Inc.
Design and Architect of Record: R2Architects
