No traction for dog racing plan at Delavan track
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Dog races were held for about 15 years at Geneva Lakes Greyhound Track in Delavan, but the property has been mostly idle since late 2005. A new proposal eyes a return to racing at the site, but property owners NRB Land say that won’t happen. Instead, developers and investors are being sought for a commercial, retail, residential or combined development on the track property and adjacent land.
DELAVAN — It’s no secret that the sluggish economy has tied the hands of NRB Land during its six-year effort to develop the former Geneva Lakes Greyhound Track.
But even though the company in McHenry, Ill., doesn’t know yet what will happen with the property, spokesman Andrew Teegen knows one thing that won’t happen.
(Read all of this week's stories from Walworth County Sunday HERE. )
Teegen said the dog track, which was open from May 1990 through November 2005, would never open again as a gambling venue.
“Things had been pretty quiet, and then this springs up out of the blue,” Teegen said of a proposal that a Kenosha racing enthusiast began circulating in early April, one seeking potential Walworth County investors to revive an industry at the venue. “You would think that they would contact the property owner before doing something like this. It was kind of weird and out of left field, to say the least. But NRB never purchased that facility with the intent of bringing dog racing back.”
NRB Land is a development facilitator, specializing in acquiring, rezoning and improving properties for future development or redevelopment. It bought the former greyhound track property, at Wisconsin Highway 50 and Interstate 43, on March 31, 2006, for just under $8 million. It then purchased the adjacent property — giving it nearly 200 acres of land — in June 2006 for $6.5 million.
Teegen, the land development and acquisitions coordinator, said owners continue to seek the right combination of commercial, retail and/or residential developers or investors before presenting any serious plan to local and area government officials or stakeholders.
For the full story, see www.communityshoppers.com. or the May 6 print edition of the Walworth County Sunday.
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May 9, 2012 at 11:07 p.m.
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Maybe the racing enthusiast knew it would go nowhere if he/she took to the track owners. Obviously, it was a good enough proposal to make the news and get the mayor to take to the city administrator. I still would love to see it.
May 9, 2012 at 11:59 a.m.
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No thank you to the return of dog racing in Delavan. It didn't work before. Who in their right mind would try to revive it? That the racing enthusiast didn't even contact the landowners shows that this person doesn't have enough business sense to be taken seriously.
May 6, 2012 at 8:49 a.m.
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I would love to see the proposal that was sent to the investors and politicians. Anything that creates jobs in this economy is better than what we have now.
May 5, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.
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It seems a shame to have that property and not do anything with it. Even for the community with the revenue it could bring in. Delavan needs all the help it can get to dig itself out of the low level reputation it has. The biggest attraction there is, is the authentic Mexican restaurants. Don't get me wrong, we drive to Delavan quite often to visit our favorite Mexican joint and totally love it but the city really needs something to build it up and attract visitors from miles and miles around for a day or evening of entertainment.
May 5, 2012 at 4:43 p.m.
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So in 2006 NRB Land spent 14.5 million for this property, seems high to me, and in 6 years thay have done nothing with it.
While I don't know what the proposal to reopen the track was, it sounds like a plan to raise money for the state and create jobs for the community.
What is NRB Land plan to achieve putting people to work and raising money for the community.
Would someone be willing to post this plan that was rejected. Maybe the people that live around here wouldn't be so fast to reject something if it was feasible.
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