view raw text
Cahokia Downs Opening Only Five Weeks Away Construction Work Going Ahead At Rapid Pace at East St. Louis By C. A. LINDEMAN Staff Correspondent CAHOKIA DOWNS, East St. Louis, HI., June 25. Construction on the new racing plant, Cahokia Downs, is advancing in a rapid manner, and will be completed ahead of schedule for the July 27 opening. The entire structure of the grandstand is covered and most of the tile is in place around the mutuel windows and concession stands. The steel is all in place for the three-decker clubhouse as well as the turf club. A week will see great strides forward in the covering of the clubhouse. Concrete will be poured for the first floor in the near future. Heavy equipment is steadily bringing the parking space into readiness for the vast area at both ends and back of the entire structure. All the lighting fixtures will be in place by the end of next week, and the new track is expected to be one of the best lighted racing plants in the country. Lighting of the backstretch is new in the respect that the lights, themselves, are much lower than at most other night racing plants. A battery of lights are strung the entire length of the grandstand along the roof. Proof that the racing s" ip is in top shape for the training of horses is the fact that horses trained,over the new strip accounted for the first five races on the Fairmount Park card last Wednesday night, out of the nine races programmed. Horses take the short 15 -minute vanning in good shape. With the meeting now a matter of only five weeks away, many new stables are arriving daily to take up the -vacant stalls. By race time for the new track there will be upwards of 1,200 horses stabled at both Cahokia and Fairmount Park.
