Lincoln Park has come a long way since it opened 60 years ago as Lincoln Downs, a horse race track. But right now, it’s undergoing some of the biggest changes in its history.
In March, a new 160,000-square-foot north wing will open, with two new restaurants, a comedy club, a made-to-order buffet, a television/radio studio and a new gaming area with 1,100 slot machines and a full bar on the gaming floor.
In April, a new event center is scheduled to open, with stadium seating for nearly 2,000 people, allowing the park to host “everything from concerts to athletic events,” according to owner BLB Investors LLC.
BLB launched the renovations and expansions after buying the facility from the British company Wembley plc for $440 million in 2005. As part of the deal, the state authorized BLB to increase the number of video lottery terminals in the facility to 4,752 from 3,002, and BLB committed itself to investing $125 million in the park.
The company has actually gone beyond that, investing $220 million so far, with more to come.
“The property had been neglected by the previous owners and had become downtrodden and antiquated,” said Craig Sculos, vice president and general manager of Lincoln Park. “But BLB is visionary. The investment didn’t go up because of the price of boilers; it was that the fit and finish had to be to a certain level.”
Cynthia Stern, vice president of public relations, agreed. “BLB is used to a very high standard,” she said.
But the challenge wasn’t simply to transform Lincoln Park, but to do so while continuing to operate the facility.
“It’s just a massive project. If we were in Vegas they probably would’ve detonated and demolished Lincoln Park and rebuilt it from the ground up,” said Sculos. “But our challenge was to coexist during this process, to continue to generate revenue for the state, since we are the third-largest source of revenue [combined with Newport Grand].
That makes this a very unique project.”
Already, in the old facilities, BLB refurbished the grandstand and one of the gaming rooms on the second floor of the main building, and it has installed 600 new video lottery terminals in that area. In addition, small eateries such as Johnny Rockets, Dunkin’ Donuts and Ronzio’s have opened in that space.
Most notably, there’s a new Irish restaurant and bar, Fadó, that was partially built in Ireland and shipped over. Fadó features traditional music and television broadcasts of rugby, European football and curling, and it has seats that overlook the greyhound racetrack, so people can bet and watch the races as they dine. The facility also has a new south entrance that is decorated with art from students from Rhode Island School of Design.
In the addition, the amenities will include a large Italian restaurant – BLB won’t say yet what the name will be, but describes it as “well-known” and out of New York – that also has windows overlooking the racetrack. And there will be a steak house with an “upscale sports theme,” as well as a dining area with a cook-to-order food buffet and a bakery.
The addition will also create a permanent home for the fourth location of Catch a Rising Star, a comedy club that has been in business for 32 years and has hosted many comedians who became stars, including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Brett Butler and Eddie Murphy. It will also have a retail center for customers to redeem points for items ranging from flat-screen television sets to iPods. And on the gaming floor there will be a bar, Lighthouse, with a two-story lighthouse and live music.
But that won’t be the end of the work. Once the new area is finished, BLB plans to turn its attention back to refurbishing the rest of the park.
“The renovations have taken a back seat to the expansion,” Stern said, adding that they should be completed by this fall.
“The goal we have is to make the existing space as fit and finished as the new additions,” Sculos said.
Stern said everything about the park is going to be improved so that it won’t just be newly decorated – it will be a brand-new place.
“This is not skin deep,” she said. “We’re changing ourselves to the core.”
