Churchill Downs giving horse racing fans new view of the greatest two minutes in sports
Horse racing fans may soon have a new point of view of the greatest two minutes in sports.
On Friday, leaders with Churchill Downs announced work is almost complete on the track's new "First Turn Club."
More than 50 people got to be a part of history as the venue held a 'topping off' ceremony, where it allowed those who helped the project reach this point to sign the final steel beam of the structure before putting it into place.
Gov. Andy Beshear (D) was one of the many elected officials who signed the beam.
The ceremony marked the halfway point for the $90 million project.
"It's going to be a beautiful architectural gem," said John Hinshaw, president of Calhoun Construction Services Inc.
Hinshaw's company is building the structure, and he believes this is going to be an addition to Churchill like no other.
Calhoun Construction has already completed millions of dollars worth of construction projects at Churchill, but he said this one is incomparable.
"You're going to have a club that you can drive your car up to," said Hinshaw. "When you get in, you'll just have to walk 25 feet and be in a 50,000 square-foot club. You're going to have an upper deck that's wide open. It looks out at the twin spires, and you can see the entire race track."
The new structure will be replacing the former Vineyard Vines grandstand as well as section 110, and will create more than 7,100 new reserved seats for premium ticket holders. To put that into perspective, the previous structure could only hold roughly 3,400 patrons.
Hinshaw believes the best part about all those new seats, is that no matter the weather, race fans will stay dry.
"There will be a 100-foot canopy that extends out to cover all the seats," said Hinshaw. "It'll be striking when it's done. We did a small one on top of the starting gate suites three years ago, but this one is just massive compared to that."
In a perfect world, Hinshaw said the facility will be completed and ready in time for the 149th Kentucky Derby on May 6th, 2023.
It should be noted, that timeline only gives Calhoun Construction 10 months total to complete the project, but with the steel beam ceremony happening Friday, Hinshaw said he is optimistic.
"We have five months to get it done," said Hinshaw. "You can just look over there and see, there's a lot of work to be done. It's great to hit this milestone on schedule, but there's a lot of work to be done."
Two-day Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks all-inclusive tickets for the First Turn Club premium dining area start at $2,610 per seat, while First Turn Reserved Seating starts at $1,261 per seat.
Interested guests may contact the Churchill Downs Premium Seating Department via email at Sales@KyDerby.com or by calling (502) 636-4447. A Premium Seating Concierge is available to discuss Personal Seat Licenses