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FORT ERIE’S RACE TRACK
Contracts Let
[Welland Tribune, 9 April 1897]
Buffalo, April 5- The Fort Erie Jockey club has let the contracts for its track. The contract for the grand stand has been awarded to James Stewart & Co. of Buffalo and St. Louis, at a price close to $50,000, but the steel work will be done by the Hamilton Bridge company. The stables, fences and smaller outbuildings will be built by the Coleman Lumber company of Hamilton and Burlington, and the grading and construction of the track will be done by Craig & Craig of Buffalo. The erection of the stables, fences and grading are to be completed by May 15, and the grand stand within 60 days. The grand stand will be 311 feet long by 115 wide; it is to face north at an angle with the track, an innovation which the new Pacific Jockey club in San Francisco has found works very successfully. There will be eighteen terraces of seats. These terraces are to be unusually wide, and will be supplied with folding chairs also of extra width; in the front of the stand there will be 24 boxes, each containing eight chairs. The press stand will be built out from the grand stand close to the judge’s box. Immediately in front of the stand will be a granolithic promenade; this will be covered by the roof of the grand stand, which extends 35 feet beyond the front seats. There are to be four flights of stairs in the front, but the principal entrance to the stand will be from the balcony promenade in the rear. On the east end will be the buffet and restaurant. The buffet will be 45 by 50 feet and the restaurant 36 by 50 feet. Ladies’ and gentlemen’s cafes will be found there. Joining this part of the stand will be the house of the superintendent of the track. It will contain eight rooms. Underneath the stand will be the betting ring. This is to be 210 feet long by 68 feet wide. This will have an arched roof, thus doing away with columns. On the south side of the betting ring and ten feet above it, will a gallery or balcony promenade ten feet wide.
LATER- Work is progressing despite the bill before parliament to limit the number of days for racing per annum. An effort will be made to have the bill modified so as to permit of 30 or 40 racing days during the year, which would meet the views of the promoters of this track. The course has been staked out, and grading will be begun in a few days. The numerous contractors who are doing the wok are building houses for the men to sleep in while the work is going on, and the grounds look as if they had hurriedly been occupied by squatters.
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