Demolition scheduled for Arizona horse racing track

Asbestos removal is underway in the four-story Phoenix Trotting Park, an abandoned horse racing track along Interstate 10 and Loop 303 in Goodyear, Arizona, to prepare for its demolition, a report by the Arizona Republic says. Demolition of the 100,000-square-foot building is scheduled for completion by December.

The building has been vacant for more than 50 years and is located between two of the Phoenix area’s busiest freeways, the report says. An area that could be a site for commercial and industrial growth.

After the asbestos removal is completed, county inspectors will verify the structure is clean and the property owners can begin demolition, the report says. Two other buildings on the south end of the lot, which were once a maintenance building and jockey building, are also slated for demolition.

The 194-acre property is owned by Citrus Commerce Centre LLC, Phoenix, and was listed for sale at $16.5 million in December 2015. The property went into escrow in August 2016 but the deal didn’t go through.

According to the report, a representative for the property owners says the space is not actively being marketed but it will still be for sale.

When the Roles family, who owns Citrus Commerce, purchased the property from Grand Canyon University in 1995 for $2 million, they were originally going to repurpose the grandstand structure, but the plans never came to be.

The city currently has no plans for the property but supports the development of it as a place for business and commerce.