Their own worst enemy: Big problems lie ahead for Gulfstream Park if they continue keeping HB community in the dark, esp. re night racing

Above, the sign of advertising infamy, the Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino sign that tells you that you are about to get close to the Twilight Zone of Marketing in South Florida, where multi-million dollar companies act like hapless Elementary School PTAs in the 1960's, wasting resources and opportunities left and right.
As I've mentioned in this space many times before, this sign facing southbound U.S.-1/Federal Highway from the intersection of U.S.-1 and Hibiscus, is at one of the premier advertising spots in all of Broward County, yet this sign has NOT been illuminated at night in over THREE YEARS.
This proves that having access to millions of dollars and amazing resources doesn't make your company intelligent or wise or prescient.Just poorly managed.

Below, the same sign from a slightly lower angle, with the Race Track complex visible above the shrubs. You'll immediately notice that the green spotlight on the left is completely missing, leaving only the brace in the ground, as it has been for about a year. The spotlight on the right is complete, but STILL broken three years later.
I was going to run photos of this that I took last weekend, when I was also taking shots of the infamous Hallandale Beach red-light camera one block away.
Instead, I've chosen to post these two photos that I shot of the sign on August 16th, 2010. Nothing has changed.
And I do mean nothing!August 16, 2010 photos by South Beach Hoosier
Their own worst enemy: Big problems lie ahead for Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino if they persist in playing their stealthy games in Tallahassee with legislators and lobbyists while continuing to keep the Hallandale Beach community in the dark about their plans for night racing.
If they thought South Floridians already DON'T care about them...
So, do you recall how I recently mused out loud in this space that the geniuses over at Gulfstream Park Race Track were their very own worst enemies?

Sure you do!

In case you didn't... it's here, from February 14th:
Magna's bankruptcy, Frank Stronach, Gulfstream Park to be topics of Hallandale Beach City Comm.'s closed meeting Wednesday; night racing at Gulfstream
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/magnas-bankruptcy-frank-stronach.html

I went on a bit about their terrible management of their world-famous facility, whether in dealing with aesthetics, customer service, public safety or their perfectly dreadful marketing, wherein every move they seem to make seems worse than the last one, which can only make the folks at Forest City Enterprises more angry that they are tied together with Magna.
Above, August 16, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of the Forest City Enterprises trailer at the northwest corner of the Gulfstream Park parking lot, with that neglected Gulfstream Park sign on the other side of the palm trees.

Above, December 14, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

So, if you thought having a sign on U.S.-1 that you don't illuminate at night for the tens of thousands of drivers passing by every day is dumbfounding, how do you feel about their sign on the Aventura side of the property, on U.S.-1/Biscayne Blvd. facing N.E. 215th Street, where for AT LEAST two weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-December, in the heart of holiday shopping advertising, they had a sign that had... wait for it... NOTHING on it?
Above, the sign as it appeared on December 12th, 2010, with nary a persuasive letter to be found.
It's beyond dumbfounding, it's marketing suicide.

But for two weeks, while the shops and restaurants at Village at Gulfstream were open and screaming for shoppers, Magna & Forest City put their worst face forward. How can you make money for your shareholders if you don't even try to compete?

Oh, by the way, only one of the spotlights on this sign has worked since Spring of 2010. Plus, well, there are other self-evident problems here that Magna is either ignoring or blind to but which your faithful blogger noticed right away.
More on that soon...


Above, December 14, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier
South Florida's lack of concern or interest in Gulfstream Park is best illustrated by the fact that roughly 20 hours after the Miami Herald went online with the story below on Friday the 25th, not a single person who'd read the article even bothered to leave a comment, pro, con or otherwise.
And here we are five days later, and there is STILL nobody interested enough to say anything.
That's about as real a sign of lack of relevance as one could find.

Concerned Hallandale Beach residents who've been paying close attention, like myself and many of the people I interact with everyday in all sorts of places, the very people who have to deal first-hand with the traffic that the track produces, are getting angry at Magna's close-mouthed tactics and lack of forthright communication with the public.

Occasionally trotting their PR person, Suzanne Friedman, across the street to Hallandale Beach City Hall to make nice and exchange meaningless blather to her bosom pals on the HB City Commission at their meetings -as she is scheduled to do Wednesday morning- and just once-in-a-while at that, is NO SUBSTITUTE for their management's adamant refusal this far to level with the citizens who would most directly be affected by any future plans of theirs, including occasional night-racing.
(If you didn't already know, Gulfstream has been considering having twilight racing for the last six Fridays of the season, after Daylight Savings Time kicks-in soon, from March 18th to April 22nd, with a first post time around 3 p.m. But all the racing has to be finito by 7 p.m.)

Magna has plenty of space at their facility to convene a large public meeting for all interested parties, in and out of the city, for them to finally do the right thing.
So what's preventing them from doing so?
Is it sheer stupidity, risk-averse management, complete clueless-ness...

Refusing to tell the truth about their plans and continuing to act like they can do whatever they want to do, with absolutely no negative consequences, is the road to ruin for them, as it will not only cost Magna the community's trust, short-term and long-term, but revenue as well.http://www.midevelopments.com/

-----
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/24/2084652/gulfstream-now-says-it-wants-year.html

Gulfstream now says it wants year-round racing
Gulfstream only intensified its dispute with Calder, which said Tuesday that it is considering year-round racing starting in July.
By Jim Freer, Miami Herald Writer
February 25, 2011

A dispute between South Florida’s thoroughbred tracks intensified Thursday when Gulfstream Park said it plans to have racing year-round during the 12 months beginning July 1.

That is the latest salvo in a battle that began early this year when Gulfstream and Calder Casino & Race Course each told Florida racing regulators of plans to hold races in December 2011. For more than 20 years, Calder has been the only South Florida thoroughbred track to have racing in December. Gulfstream’s announcement Thursday came two days after Calder said it is considering year-round racing from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012.

The tracks have until Monday to submit their 2011-12 race dates to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, which gives automatic approval.

Gulfstream hopes to settle the dispute by Monday and avoid head-to-head racing, Tim Ritvo, the track’s vice president for racing, said Thursday.

He said that Frank Stronach, chairman of Gulfstream and its parent MI Developments, will meet Friday in Louisville, Ky., with Bill Carstanjen, chief operating officer of Churchill Downs Inc., the parent company of Calder.

As of Thursday, both tracks plan to race head-to-head at least on Saturdays and Sundays starting July 1.
Barry Rose, a trainer and owner with horses stabled at Calder, said there is widespread concern about how that would impact the tracks and the state’s racing industry.
“There are only so many wagering dollars available, and it would be hard for both tracks to maintain the same kind of purse level if they race head-to-head,” he said.
Gulfstream, in Hallandale Beach, traditionally holds races from early January through late April. Calder, in Miami Gardens, races the remainder of the year.
Gulfstream, with winter racing, has larger purses. It expects that December would be a strong economic month — if Calder is not running. In its strongest response, Calder announced Tuesday that starting Saturday it will not allow Calder-stabled horses back onto its property if they run in non-stakes races at Gulfstream during that track’s meet that runs through April 24. That will cost Calder-based owners some anticipated race revenues over the next two months and make it hard for some trainers to pay stable workers, Rose said.
Calder imposed the restrictions to help ensure that it “will have a healthy horse population” when it begins its race meet April 25, especially if it runs year-round, the track’s president, Austin Miller, said Tuesday.
Calder vice president John Marshall said Calder has to consider its cost of being the only Florida track open year-round for stabling and training.
On Wednesday, Gulfstream said that by Saturday it will have about 200 temporary stalls for horses that are vanned from Calder to race at Gulfstream and are not allowed back into Calder.

-----

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/28/2090957/gulfstream-calder-settle-dispute.html Miami Herald
Gulfstream, Calder settle dispute over race dates in DecemberBy Jim Freer, Miami Herald Writer

March 1, 2011
Local racing Track Dates Calder 7/1/11-12/2/11 Gulfstream 12/3/11-4/8/12 Calder 4/9/12-6/30/12 South Florida’s thoroughbred tracks resolved a scheduling dispute Monday, with changes that include Gulfstream Park rather than Calder Casino & Race Course holding races most of this December.

Gulfstream said it will start its next season Dec. 3, 2011 and race during the remainder of December in a meet that will end April 8, 2012.

For more than 20 years, Calder has been the only South Florida thoroughbred track to have racing in December.

On Monday, Calder announced that it would end its 2011 season on Dec. 2 — one day before Gulfstream opens. That will avoid a rare situation in which two neighboring tracks have races on the same days.

Calder on Monday also said it will begin its 2012 season April 9, adding two mid-April weeks during which Gulfstream traditionally has held racing.

The tracks’ announcements, made separately, ended a dispute that started over the attractive December dates and escalated last week when both said they planned to race every week during the 12 months beginning July 1, 2011.

Officials of the two tracks declined comment Monday when asked about negotiations that led to their new schedules, and on whether Calder received any money in an adjustment in which Gulfstream is gaining December at least for one year.

However, last Friday, top officials of Churchill Downs Inc. (Calder’s parent company) and MI Developments (Gulfstream’s parent company) began a weekend of meetings and phone calls. On Saturday, Gulfstream president Steve Calabro said “we’re working on it,” when asked about efforts to resolve the dispute and avoid head-to-head racing.

On Monday, the two tracks met their deadline to file final dates with the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering for the 12 months beginning July 1, 2011. Florida Thoroughbred tracks pick their race dates with automatic approval from that regulator.

Sam Gordon, president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association group of trainers and owners said he was not aware of any financial arrangements between the tracks.

“Maybe they both realized how costly it would be, and maybe someone blinked,” he said. “We’re glad that both sides took our recommendations and will not race head-to-head.”

With the dispute settled, Gulfstream will continue its season through April 24. Calder will then have racing from April 25 through Dec. 2.

Gulfstream will hold a race meet from Dec. 3 through April 8, 2012.

Calder will race from April 9, 2012 until June 30, 2012.

If the tracks had raced head-to-head, trainers and owners would have “been in a difficult position of having to choose and take sides,” said Bill White, one of the leading trainers at Calder who also races at Gulfstream.

“This was a dispute between the tracks, and they were using us as leverage,” he said. “It is great that this is over and we can focus on our business of putting on a show and winning races.”

There also were concerns among trainers that there would not have been enough wagering dollars to keep revenues at normal levels at either track or enough horses to fill races.

In a statement, Calder vice president of racing John Marshall said Calder and Gulfstream running head-to-head “would mean the end of the South Florida racing circuit and deny local horsemen the chance to make a living as they currently do.”

In a statement, Gulfstream vice president of racing Tim Ritvo said he expects the addition of December racing “will enhance our stakes schedule and the overall quality of our product.”

He added that Gulfstream believes the change “is in the best interests of South Florida racing.”

Gulfstream’s annual schedule includes the Florida Derby, which is on April 3 this year.

Magna's bankruptcy, Frank Stronach, Gulfstream Park to be topics of Hallandale Beach City Comm.'s closed meeting Wednesday; night racing at Gulfstream

Above, the western entrance/exit of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway & S.E. 3rd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL.
In the distance, two miles away on the beach are The Beach Club's three condo towers. February 10, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Above, the Hallandale Beach Municipal Complex monument sign on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway & S.E. 5th Street, Hallandale Beach, FL. Across the street is Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park.
February 11, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


February 11, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Above, the public notice I saw at Hallandale Beach City Hall last Friday morning regarding the Wednesday February 16th Hallandale Beach City Commission Special Meeting/ Executive Session, i.e. closed to the public, which is not expected to last more than 30 minutes.
It reads, in part,
RE: Magna Entertainment Corp. et al Bankruptcy litigation styled [Case No. 09-10720 (MFW)]

You can be excused for not knowing much of this given the extremely sketchy coverage of this in the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and local Miami TV newscasts.

What can't be excused is Magna's refusal to talk publicly and forthrightly to Hallandale Beach and Aventura residents about their tentative plans for occasional night racing next year, an important component of making the two facilities a more inviting place to spend time and money.

I personally support occasional night racing at Gulfstream Park, but with certain key requirements.

I'm quite familiar with how ridiculously successful night racing has proven to be in Louisville at Churchhill Downs, as I not only have large photos and myriad news articles about
how it all came to be so successful, but also have heard first-hand from numerous Louisville-area friends who have gotten used to going there at night, whereas they formerly only went for the larger purse races or The Kentucky Derby, of course.

But Louisville, a city I really love, in part from spending so much time there with friends and getting to know their neighborhood, is a very different consumer market than South Florida, due to the number of entertainment choices one has there, as well as the weather.

In Kentucky, the thoroughbred industry is still just that, an actual industry onto themselves, with a rich and complex culture and sense of tradition.

In the South Florida of 2011, horse racing is merely one of a number of entertainment diversions, and one that has come to be looked upon as NOT particularly inviting or fun, at least as Gulfstream has done it of late.

The number one rule of politics and entertainment is that you have to know (and understand) what your universe is, which is why the seemingly never-ending series of Magna blunders and screw-ups I've personally observed over the past seven years have seemed so unnecessary.

It wasn't rocket science, but it does require some forethought and careful consideration for how things actually look to potential customers, most of whom have no past history with you.

Among those requirements that I would insist upon for night racing would be for them to keep open the Aventura gate on N.E. 213th Street, near the large retail complex housing, among others, the Target, Fresh Foods and Best Buy, on those nights for southbound drivers, instead of forcing it ALL onto either Hallandale Beach Blvd. or U.S.-1.
Aventura must share the expected traffic burden, too.

Below, the road NOT taken.

Above, the southern entrance/exit of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex on N.E. 213th Street, Aventura, FL.
Notice the obstacles placed in the road by Magna.
They DIDN'T get there by themselves, did they?


Magna will NOT get what they want entirely without getting OUR city govt.'s approval, yet they imperiously act like we don't matter, and that the only thing that does is their highly-paid lobbyists and mouthpieces in Tallahassee, who have been busy poring money into certain elected officials favorite causes.
Not that you have read or seen that in the local South Florida news media.

For those of you who have asked why I haven't written anything critical about Gulfstream Park and The Village at Gulfstream Park this racing year -and there are quite a few of you, including some heavy-duty racing fans overseas- I understand your natural curiosity, but I've been busy writing and documenting what I've seen and heard.

Be patient and rest assured, there is a lot of material and facts I intend to share with you in the coming days and weeks, complete with damning photos.

Magna's longstanding refusal to employ any innovative thinking or even learn from their (many) past mistakes, some of which have yet to be resolved this year from last year, once again causes me to wish that someone else was running things over there.
The sense of clueless-ness and obliviousness there must end if those properties are ever going to be successful -and FUN!

-------

Daily Racing Form

02/01/2011 9:57AM
MID shareholders agree to transfer racetracks to Stronach

By Matt Hegarty

Frank Stronach has moved one step closer to taking control of the troubled racing assets his publicly traded companies have acquired and failed to turn around over the past 13 years.

Groups representing the majority shareholders of the company that owns the assets, MI Developments, have agreed to vote in favor of a proposal that would require Stronach to give up control of the company in exchange for the racing and gambling properties, according to an announcement from MI Developments released late on Monday night. Stronach currently controls 57 percent of the voting stock of MI Developments through an unusual dual-class share structure that would be abandoned as a result of the deal.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.drf.com/news/mid-shareholders-agree-transfer-racetrack s-stronach

In the near-future, I'll list some other recent well-written articles or columns I've read that have proven very helpful to me in understanding the pertinent facts and long-term implications of the bankruptcy involving Magna Entertainment Corp., the role of MI Developments and the future of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino.

Secretariat, starring Diane Lane & John Malkovich, opening October 8th, from Walt Disney Pictures; Wither Gulfstream Park Race Track?

Girls and horses?
That's a license to print money.
Always has been, always will be.

Secretariat by William Nack
http://www.hyperionmedianet.com/web/showpage/bookpage.aspx?program_id=3131354&type=lead

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/secretariat/

And featuring the return of Fred Thompson to feature films!

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKmuvjL2cVw



Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont Stakes, winning by 25 lengths to win the Triple Crown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFquax2F-k

Amanda "AJ" Michalka - "It's Who You Are" Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kShUvrr7QVU




http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/secretariat/videos/making_of/index.html


Above, the Gulfstream Park street sign for the north-south road from the grandstand to Hallandale Beach Blvd., and the north entrance monument sign on U.S.-1/South Federal Highway.
October 5, 2010 photos by South Beach Hoosier.

I've been thinking about this Secretariat film quite a lot the last few weeks as I walk or drive thru the empty NW parking lot of Gulfstream Park Race Track, not far from my home, which I take as a short-cut when doing errands, grabbing something to eat at one of my usual spots or heading over to the beach, which is less than two miles away.

(Anything to avoid the notorious red-light surveillance camera on north-bound U.S.-1 at Hallandale Beach Blvd., which the HB City Commission installed, supposedly, for safety purposes, but which has turned-out to be nothing but a cash cow for the city's coffers, as well over 95% of all tickets issued thus far are for right turn on red violations, NOT for running the intersection, the purpose cited. Because of local area driver's great reluctance to turn too quickly now, east-bound traffic is often stalled for two or three blocks along U.S.-1, with no alternatives open to you but the race track short-cut.
Despite the public disclosure of the statistics, financial and otherwise -city revenue from citations for the month of July 2010 for that one camera was $119,613.987, of which the overwhelming majority were for right turn on red violations- the HB City Commission doesn't care, and is now expanding the use of red-light cameras. Not for safety purposes, mind you, but strictly to get their hands on more money! It's that simple!)


October 5, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking east at the three Gulfstream Park dorms, and in the distance, on the beach at A1A, the three condos that comprise The Beach Club complex.

As always, I have my trusty camera with me, ever-ready to snap a shot that captures my fancy. But after several years of being back in South Florida, after being so long up in the Chicago and Washington, D.C. areas, having been so geographically close to this race track, being in or near it every single day fro seven years, I almost have come to take it for granted.
Almost.

The same way I became blase walking from my home on Capitol Hill at night during the summer, after I first moved to Washington in 1988, to nearby places you may have heard of.

First past the U.S. Capitol, along the pathways of The National Mall, past the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian, past the Washington Monument and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 'till I was finally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Even when it's hot as hell during the summer at night, which is always since there's no Gulfstream breeze, the place is so magnetic, the sense of history so strong and palpable, that it's hard not to get wistful, reflective and philosophical.

For the first few years I lived in the Washington area, it was all so terribly exciting, but eventually, the excitement of the history that is all around me turns into a rather mundane routine, except for when friends and family came to visit and it became alive for me all over again, especially when I was with my adorable nieces, who lived in suburban Maryland.

The everyday existence and hustle -and sheer tension- of living in the Washington, D.C. area really wears you out, so after awhile, once I'd moved across the Potomac to Arlington County (VA), since I wasn't one of those person with a summer house share in Delaware, every so often, when I was free on weekends, I started going with friends down to Charlottesville and other places in Virginia where the sense and pull of America's early history is still both strong and palpable. (Or out thru the hills to West Virgina.)

I've always liked being in places where I couldn't take things for granted, though to be sure, every time I ever walked past The White House on the Pennsylvania Avenue side, so many thousands and thousands of times over those 15 years, I never took THAT view for granted.
Not once.
But I saw plenty of people who did, and I never wanted to be one of those people.

So, all that being said, and knowing that I'm someone who has always been a voracious reader and a person who particularly loves history, and American cultural history at that, one of my biggest disappointments living here in Hallandale Beach has been witnessing the way the current owners of Gulfstream Race Track, MAGNA Entertainment, have allowed some of its history, beauty and majesty to recede.

See a glimpse of what the race track once looked like at:
http://www.cardcow.com/search3.php?substring=gulfstream%20park

October 5, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking south from the NW parking lot towards the grandstand and the Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex.

Churchill Downs would never tolerate the way things are routinely done here, and neither would Disney or Universal or any other consumer-oriented attraction that wants visitors to spend money.
I suppose that's precisely why I get so very angry when I see how poorly-maintained parts of the admittedly huge facility are, and how unattractively it presents itself to visitors.

It's almost like the MAGNA people take it for granted that people will come.
But they aren't, are they?

Nope, the Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex is far from a success, yet at least some of the reasons for that discomforting reality could hardly be more obvious.

Personally, as I've previously written here, I can't fathom how you could own that place and allow a large Gulfstream Park advertising sign that you have that is visible to busy U.S.-1 traffic to be unlit at night for years, yet they do.
I've shown you photos of that very sign here many times, haven't I, as well as the plant overgrowth that obstructed some of the signage?
It's not a secret, it's common knowledge.

I've often written in this space about my litany of well-founded criticisms of Gulfstream Park, complete with my photos to highlight and buttress my contentions, self-evident facts that have been well-nigh invisible to the very people who actually ought to have been MOST concerned with what customers actually thought about them: MAGNA Entertainment.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Gulfstream%20Park%20Race%20Track%20and%20Casino
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Village%20at%20Gulfstream%20Park

Yet they continue to be blasé and ignore what is right in front of them, seemingly content to have nobody in charge of Quality Control, someone able to whip the place into shape so that consumers find it inviting and interesting and FUN.
It simply isn't ANY FUN at all.
It's the opposite of fun -it repels!

That months-old promise I made here once to discuss some constructive suggestions for improving things at Gulfstream Park will finally be posted soon, along with some helpful aids to hammer those points home.

But I wanted to say now while I could that my genuine hope is that the great success of the Secretariat film will do something -anything!- to shake the MAGNA folks out of their sleepwalking stupor, and realize once and for all that if they aren't in it to win, they need to sell the place to someone who will manage this historic facility with the foresight, intelligence, care and marketing savvy it deserves.
All of those factors are currently MIA.

I'll also have a lot to say soon about the prospects of night racing at Gulfstream Park, too, as I've been sitting on that subject since last year while getting more and more information from reliable sources.

Though I am personally in favor of a racing schedule that includes limited night racing, as usual, the folks at MAGNA are completely f-ing botching this possibility thru their careless words and actions, seemingly oblivious to their need to first communicate openly and honestly with the citizens and communities most directly affected: Hallandale Beach, Aventura, Hollywood and Broward County.
They haven't done that.

Frankly, MAGNA operates like all they need to do to secure the ability to hold night racing is to curry favor with enough Florida State Senators, esp. those from the Panhandle, perhaps thru their favorite lobbyists, and magically, after they snap their fingers, it'll just happen.
NOPE!

For starters, the reality is that are looking at first having to hold lots of public meetings, and they are going to have to completely STOP with the transparent half-truths and lies, and actually level with the citizens who already live near here.
Night racing is NOT something that MAGNA is entitled to have simply for asking for it.

Personally, I'm starting to believe that the best thing for everyone concerned would be for there to be no night racing at Gulfstream Park until after MAGNA sells the race track and associated property to an entity with the financial resources to run it in a creative, first-class manner, so that it really is a FUN place to be.
That is NOT what Gulfstream Park is now.

http://www.gulfstreampark.com/

Coming Sunday: SNAFU! Gulfstream Park Race Track and Casino is a MESS! What, if anything, can be done to change it?

December 29, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking north on U.S.-1/ South Federal Highway
from the Broward and Miami-Dade countyline
towards Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino
and the Village at Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach.

Gulfstream Park Race Track and Casino:
It's where smart long-term planning, savvy
consumer marketing and plain common sense
go to die in a big black hole.
What a complete mess!!!

On Sunday, the first day of racing at Gulfstream,
you'll be able to see for yourself what the truth has
been over there for the past year, right under the
nose of South Florida's sleepwalking news media,
and read some suggestions for making the property
viable and successful in the future.

But don't kid yourself, it will be far from easy, for
Magna Entertainment and Forest City to get out
of the big black hole of negativity they've created for
themselves with South Florida's residents/consumers
thru their self-evident myopia and longstanding
incompetence.

Incompetence that, in my opinion, calls into serious
question whether they are even fit to run this valuable
property, which is for sale, regardless of what they
do or do not say "officially."
To the latter, I can only say, "Thank goodness."

If Magna isn't prepared to genuinely eject their failed
and dim-witted strategy and and accept constructive
criticism and consciously think 'outside-the-box' or
their, yes, 'comfort zone,' in terms of their overall
property operations, customer outreach and Quality
Control, they are going to have wasted not just tens
of millions of dollars, but a golden opportunity.

The clock is ticking, and time is most definitely
NOT on their side.

December 28, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking south at the Gulfstream Park sign on
Hibiscus, just off U.S.-1/South Federal Highway,
a sign that has NOT been lit at night since 2008.
You only see this because of my camera's flash.

It took the people at Magna Entertainment
over ELEVEN MONTHS to notice and do
something about the self-evident fact that there
were ten-foot weeds and vines completely taking
over the sign and obstructing the words.
But the lights STILL don't work!

That's the kind of genius brainpower you
have running things there.
Hopefully, not for much longer!

See my last post on Gulfstream Park
from November 1st, 2009 titled
Problems at Magna's Gulfstream Park
are much bigger than you think!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/problems-at-magnas-gulfstream-park-are.html