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BELMONT PARK Grading work at west end of the infield to relocate and andmake make concentric turns of the turf and jumping courses Extensive repair of ofcorrosion corrosion damage to deck slabs and risers in foreground Extensive Remodel ing Program In Progress at Belmont Park Host of New Appointments To Greet Racing Fans With Opening of Meeting May 29 29J J By BOB NORWOOD NORWOODELMONT ELMONT L I N Y May 4 This is by way of being a report on work in progress at Belmont Park which is to present its bright new face to the New York racin public on May 29 As you drive and walk from one end of the vast plant to the other with side strips across the Hemp stead turnpike to inspect new parking lots and the construction of a cloverleaf and underpass watching a small army of work ¬ men operating bulldozers laying blacktop erecting steel structures and sowing grass seed in areas that in some places seem to have been devastated by an atom bomb it is almost impossible to realize that the vast improvement program will be com ¬ pleted in four weeks Track superintendent John Golden agrees that it does not seem possible that order will prevail where now is apparent chaos but conveys the idea that the job being carried out by the Stone Webster Engineering Co will be ready at the appointed time Your survey starts in Goldens office near the training track at the edge o the hill where you are invited lo look at sets of blueprints th size of bedsheets so that you may have some idea of what is being attempted before venturing into the scenes of intense and completely confusing ac ¬ tivity The most extensive improvements will be noted by the visiting throngs be ¬ fore they even enter Belmont Park this spring being a complete rearrangement of the approaches to the track whether by car bus or train trainOld Old Terminal Now Under pass passThe The old railway terminal has now be ¬ come an uiiderpass fed by a new and elaborate cloverleaf leading from the Cross Island parkway while a new eighttrack terminal is in the process of completion at the lower end of the grandstand A covered underpass leads from this termi ¬ nal which is also for buses directly into the lower end of the grandstand and much of this structure is already completed Just inside this new entrance to the grand ¬ stand two escalators are already installed which will this spring reach to the mezza ¬ nine level Two more double escalators have been installed leading from the paddock to the grandstand while still another pair of single escalators are in place in the clubhouse clubhouseThe The historic Manice mansion has already been removed and the area it occupied is in the process of becoming a new clubhouse parking lot while the new parking lots across the turnpike have been filled with thousands of tons of earth taken from the infield A vast hump some four feet high has been removed from the infield which has been lowered another 18 inches pro ¬ viding this earth The old clubhouse to the west of the grandstand which has housed the program printing offices and other services for many years has been razed and the new covered overpass traverses this area areaPossibly Possibly by next year bridges will be constructed primarily to aid the flow of Brooklyn traffic One of these will be near the far turn of the race track crossing the Cross Island parkway the other bridge will feed traffic into the clubhouse section Also in the future isa plan to eliminate the floral park grade crossings which are now a bottleneck bottleneckIt It is evident beneath the piles of rubble and the still incomplete construction of the terminus and new entrance to the grand ¬ stand that one of the major objections to Belmont Park will have been largely solved this spying This incidentally refers not only to the objection by patrons who have for many years suffered traffic congestion reminiscent of the New Jersey approaches to the Lincoln and Holland tunnels on a Sunday evening but to those of nonrace ¬ goers using both the Cross Island parkway and the Hempstead turnpike turnpikeMost Most Costly Improvements Less Noticeable The major or most costly improvements to the grandstand and clubhouse will be less noticeable These consist of to all in ¬ tents and purposes rebuilding the first 10 rows of both sections with new steel re ¬ placing eroded material that had been in place since the track opened its gates in 1905 More noticeable and less expensive will be the addition of fluorescent lighting in both the grandstand and clubhouse which with a new blue and yellow paint job will make these hitherto rather dismal environs positively cheery cheeryAs As for the race track itself the main track will remain xmchanged this year while the turf course has been shortened 48 feet at each of the west turns The turf course will not be used until 1958 but it is hoped to be able to use the steeplechase course next fall Sod from Aqueduct has been imported to speed the progress of the chase course being placed for a space of 20 feet out from the inner rail Next year the final turns of the main track will be shortened 48 feet reducing the distance of the track by 96 feet The old tower across the Widener chute has been razed and a new tower atop the grandstand is nearing completion though still a network of steel Also permanent steel patrol towers averaging some 50 feet in height are ready for installation lying in their places like skeletons of prehistoric mon ¬ sters stersOne One gets an idea of the rapidity of the progress of the project when noting that an area of parking lot that was several acres of bare earth when you arrived had been largely covered with blacktop a couple of hours later Similarly though not so dramatically noticeable the infield is being seeded with quick growing grasses such as fesque rye and red top that doesnt quite quiteContinued Continued on Page FiftyThree Extensive Remodeling Program In Progress at Belmont Park ParkContinued Continued from Page Nine Ninegrow grow before your eyes but will present a green expanse by May 29 29The The stable area has not been neglected with four new barns already tinder con ¬ struction Barns 67 and 68 will be at the far end of the hill near the training track while Barns 34 and 31 A will be in the hollow near the intersection of Plainview Road and the Hempstead Turnpike The barns will provide stalls for 186 horses plus 48 tackrooms and feed rooms while dormi ¬ tories are being constructed in connection with each barn These barns are scheduled for completion by time the horses return from Saratoga at the end of August
