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E N tl s £ _, V K |, to f 1 s s t to t p a t f s r ■* j f t i i s ] ] i i . i ; ■ • » 1 1 ! « j t r t z 1 r s s . r r s s e y a j. 1 | I « • 0 „ r e v T ;s n ,e . j j n ie r „ S. g £ ,a j j I es I be je 1 1 .r eI I es j d_ le xg id 12 NEW TRACK NEARLY COMPLETE J" [ r Eastern Turf Writers Invited to In- J j spect Narragansett Park. *• 1 Nine Days Remain to Give New Rhode Island Track Final Touches — Grounds Were Formerly an Airport. ra ■ PAWTUCKET, R. I.. July 24— All doubts 1_ 1— that Narragansett Park will be ready for the 2— 2 — scheduled opening on August 1 of the 3— 3 — twenty-nine day meeting have been dispelled. j~ 4— 5 — They vanished Sunday when president g_ 6 — Walter E. OHara and his associates in the 7_ 7— Narragansett Racing Association invited turf writers of New England and New York inspect the new ,150,000 plant and judge j_ 1— for themselves how near it is to completion. 2 2-The — assurances of Mark Linenthal, con- 3— 3— struction engineer, and Harry Kees, super- 4 f~ — 5 — intendent of construction, were not neces- g_ 6— sary to convince them that on the eve of 7_ 7— the opening, little, if anything, will remain be done. "Today the plant is more than ninety-five 1-per 1— cent completed," said engineer Lilenthal, 2 2-as — he started with a party of visitors on a 3 3-tour — of inspection. "We have nine days be- 4 4-fore the opening. That is more time than is 5-actually 5— needed to finish the plant. The 6 6-nine-day period includes a Sunday, but since 7-we 7— started work on this project seven weeks ago, Sundays have been just work days. Before next Sunday every detail of construction will have been completed. Thereafter it will be just a case of cleaning and touching up." The building of Narragansett Park con-stitutes a record in race track construction. It was accomplished by sheer force of manpower and the lavish expenditure of money. 1 j_ The first contract was not signed until the 2-end 2 of May and the first spadeful of dirt 3 3. was not turned until June 2. Within the 4 4. span of sixty days a racing plant embodying 5. every comfort and convenience for horse- 6 g. man and spectator, the most modern equip- 7. ment and luxurious in its appointment, will have been erected. Local newspapermen who have watched the progress from day to day express amazement at the speed with which the barren What Cheer airport was transformed into a race track comparable to Hialeah Park and other outstanding American turf plants. The last of the 14,000 seats in the grand stand were being placed in position yester- • day. The stand is 468 feet long and a mezzanine runs the full length of it. The stand 1 1 is of concrete and steel construction. The roof is canted at an angle that provides max- 2 2 imum protection without obstructing the 3 view of those seated in the stand. On the 4 4 mezzanine are restaurants, barber shop and 5 5 rest rooms. 6 6 The clubhouse is the particular joy of 1 7 president OHara. It is a three-decker with verandas the size of tennis courts. It con-! tains the private offices of the management, 1 special quarters for the entertainment of I distinguished visitors, restaurant, lounge and a huge bar. The clubhouse will accommodate as many visitors as the grandstands 1 -of many tracks. On the far side of the mile track, with its chute for six furlongs races, are the stables. ! i There are twenty of these, each of fifty- 1 stall capacity. The barns, like all the other 1 structures, have been built for permanence. ] The pari-mutuel departments, underneath the grandstand and in the clubhouse, are i ready for the installation of the electrical 1 appliances for the American totalizator, j 1 Mort Mahony is the supervisor of mutuels J at the local track, as he is at many other 1 courses. He divides his time between Rock- ; ingham Park and Narragansett Park. Units j in the Rockingham "tote" will be trans-1 i ferred to Narragansett during the three days , intervening between the two meetings, pro- . viding more than sufficient time for their installation. Mahoney, who saw 83,000 bet at Rock- , ingham Park last Saturday, the record play j for the New Hampshire track, declared that | wagering at Narragansett Park will come I close to establishing new American marks. | President OHara is more optimistic in his predictions. He offered to bet yesterday that the daily play for the meeting will average 50,000, There were no takers. I Narragansett Park has a more populous j area to draw from than Rockingham Park, j ! and it will profit by the pioneering of the Rhode Island association. "We have a pop-H ulation of about 7,000,000 people from whom to attract our patronage," OHara pointed out, "and that does not include Boston and the area north of that city. Providence, Pawtucket, Brockton, the Attelboros, New Bedford and Fall River are sufficient to support our sport. We also could ! | include New Haven and Hartford in our ! local picture, because there will be special service from those cities. From Boston the New York, New Haven and Hartford will run daily trains, with club cars attached, direct to the track." The railroad spur into Narragansett Park has been completed. The round trip fare from Boston will be , including admission to the grounds. General admission to the track will be . Narragansett Park is fortunate in being served with exceptionally good highways. It is on the main road to Boston, a four-w lane thoroughfare. The road from this high- way into the track is under construction. | It is 100 feet wide and will have eight traffic 1 lanes. Parking facilities will be provided for 5,000 cars. | Ben Holmes, the entry clerk and who is 1 j in charge of stable reservations, reports I that applications from horsemen for stalls j already exceed the supply. "This is both gratifying and disappointing," he said. "We can select the horses we wish to provide accommodations for." ! __
