HARDWICK — The state’s Gaming Commission is set to consider a $20-million plan to bring thoroughbred horse racing and sports betting to the 360 acre Great Meadowbrook Farm.
The project at the former Goodfield Dairy Farm seeks to bring a horse farm and a one-mile track with a grandstand for 5,000 spectators.
This application, consisting of 218 pages, was submitted Friday, with the required $300 application fee, to the gaming commission by Framingham attorney and former state representative John Stefanini.
“The Applicant’s concept is not to create a gaming facility or racino, but rather to create an agritourism destination in which racing is an important, but not dominant, ingredient,” Stefanini wrote in his letter to the Gaming Commission.
He chairs the proposed race track’s five-person corporate compliance committee, called the Racing Oversight Board.
The other members of the board includes: Reed Hillman, the former commander of Massachusetts State Police, Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of University of Massachusetts Health Care and Medical School, Robin Kalaidjian, a horse breeder and attorney Karen Davis.
In cover letter to state Gaming Commission, Stefanini wrote: ”As described in 2016 University of Massachusetts (Amherst) Study by Henry Renski, John R. Mullin, and Jonathan G. Cooper, which we include with our application, a multi-use horse park — a racetrack for thoroughbred horses with an equestrian center and a thoroughbred horse retirement farm — like the one we envision, can be a significant economic catalyst for investment and job creation throughout the Commonwealth. These jobs and economic activity in rural areas will have the added benefit of preserving open spaces and local food production.”
The application said the board is seeking approval with the Town of Hardwick and the Agricultural Lands Preservation Committee. It is also seeking to create a Host Community Agreement with Hardwick that addresses questions about parking, traffic and safety.
”We anticipate investing $20 million to design and construct the project. We have assembled a best-in-class development team led by Richard T. Fields,” Stefanini wrote.
Hardwick Board of Selectmen is convening public hearings Monday and Tuesday evening of this week at Hardwick Elementary School, starting at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposal. The school is at 76 School House Drive, off of Route 32.
”Anyone wishing to be heard should appear at this meeting,” the meeting’s notice states.
Application to state gaming commission is published on the town’s municipal website.