Unless you’ve been through a closing yourself, no one can feel the pain that will be felt when The Woodlands runs its last race tonight.
As recently as two years ago, 23 employees who had started when the track opened Sept. 14, 1989, were still on board; another 20 had been working there more than 10 years.
“Believe me, they had every opportunity to go elsewhere with the way things look but they stuck with us; they really love it, they know their customers and like them and the customers like them,” said Jim Gartland, the General Manager at the time.
Trainers, likewise, stuck around even though handles and points frequently dropped well below the breaking point. One, Craig Sheldon, has been around since day one. Darren Flahive and Roy Bartram have been at the track almost since its start while Mike Stout started as a trainer, left for a short period and returned as an owner. Other long-time backside veterans include Jon Antill, Howard Browning, Jim Martin, Maria Beck, Amy Kappel, Cindy Unrein and Chris Maher.
Now they must leave – and they don’t want to. “I bought a home. I can’t leave. I’m too tied down,” says Unrein. “I don’t have a clue what I’ll do. I don’t want to go,” echoes Kappel. “I was born and raised here; I love this town,” says Beck.
Maher, who not only saw his job training for the Dutch Koerner Kennel come to an end, had three family members also lose their jobs. “I love Kansas City; I hope it reopens,” says Maher, whose wife, Kim, worked in the Adoption Kennel; his daughter, Leigh, worked for the Jake Kushner Kennel; and his son-in-law, Doug Palmer, worked for him in the Dutch Koerner Kennel.
Kushner was dealt one of the cruelest blows. With slots apparently on the way, he purchased a farm in Tonganoxie and is currently raising more than 100 greyhounds. “I’ve got no choice; I’ve got to stay,” says Kushner.
Ironically, it was the slots that shot down the track not once but twice – first when the riverboats came to Kansas City, Mo., in 1994 and now when the Legislature and the Lottery Commission would not bend their demands enough to allow the slots to make it financially viable for The Woodlands.
Had the riverboats not reared their ugly heads, we wouldn’t been having these discussions. If you weren’t around in those early days, there’s no way you could visualize the excitement and enthusiasm of a night at The Woodlands. Thanks to enthusiastic track announcer Randy Birch, greyhounds with such names as Blendway, HB’s Prince Red, DG’s Dealer, Buzz Around, He’sMy Man, Randy Handy and the unforgettable come-from-behind Mr. T-Bone became as well known as some of the Royals and Chiefs.
“We had the only game in town,” said Gartland. And what a game it was. The only complex in the U.S. with separate tracks for horses and greyhounds, The Woodlands quickly went about setting national greyhound records for attendance and wagering. Less than five months after its opening, a crowd of 11,814 fans turned out for the track’s first stakes race, the Winter Sprint Classic. They wagered $159,843 on that single race alone. No track before nor any track since has had that many fans for one night nor wagered that much on a single race.
In 1992, the track set yet another all-time record that still stands when $1,457 million was wagered during a single matinee. Average attendance never dipped below 3,500 in those early years and average handles hovered around $400,000.
The biggest crowd, however, turned out at the horse track While the horses never drew the interest that had been anticipated, a “Wallet Day” promotion in which 15,000 wallets – some containing cash, others gift cards, etc. – were handed out. The crowd that day was estimated at 22,000 and did not include thousands who simply gave up and went back home because of no place to park. Standing atop the horse track roof, one could see cars parked in every conceivable place and those not able to park were lined up as far as the eye could see.
But alas, those are only wonderful memories. Once again, the city that has already lost the Kings of the NBA, the Scouts of the NHL, the Future Farmers of America and Wal-Mart conventions and more has suffered yet another loss.
While it is those loyal and devoted Woodlands employees who will feel the pain the most, all KCK and Kansas will also suffer. Gaming money that could have provided tax money for education and countless other needs will continue to roll across the river to the Missouri riverboats and we are left shaking our heads and wondering how in the heck our governor and our legislators – people we elected to do good things for us – could ever let this happen.
Alan Hoskins has covered The Woodlands for the Kansan during the track’s entire 19-year tenure.
