In 2024, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) made a $455 million bet on the future of horse racing at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, with a modernized vision for the historic venue. The 275,000 square meter structure is less than half the size of the original grandstand, creating a luxury winter facility that can seat up to 7,500 people. Meanwhile, the master plan emphasizes more usable green spaces around the venue and inside, allowing up to 50,000 people to attend. As the project enters its initial phase toward a September opening, crews are racing to finish the interiors and deliver them within an ambitious two-year construction schedule. Designed by Populous with AECOM Tishman as construction manager, the project is scheduled to partially open in September, with final completion by the end of the year.
Populous was introduced by NYRA in 2023 to create a master plan for the facility. Within this plan, the team needed to provide a modern structure for both guests and staff that would maintain the traditions and prestige of thoroughbred racing. “We had to be very thoughtful in the initial planning because what we’re trying to do is preserve its history while equipping the venue with the modern amenities that today’s sports fans expect,” says Meg McWilliam, principal and senior architect at Populous. “The design of Belmont Park isn’t about erasing history; it’s about making it accessible and thinking about how we can integrate 21st century technology, large green spaces and expanded premium hospitality that are in line with sports facilities around the world, while ensuring the venue preserves its legacy and remains relevant for generations of fans to come.”
The 275,000 square meter facility includes a clubhouse with modern amenities and a new paddock.
The building has a basement and five levels above ground with an outdoor terrace on the upper level that offers wide views of the lot. The building is topped by a wide canopy. McWilliam says part of the mission to honor the traditions of horse racing was to improve access to areas beyond the track. He notes that most venues focus almost entirely on the track, “turning their backs” on other parts of race day. “It’s not just the two minutes the horses are on the track,” he says. “You’ve got the horses coming into the paddock, paraded through the paddock and saddled. Then the jockeys mount and go out on the track, do the post parade and then head to the starting gate. Then it’s the race itself, and the prestige of the winner’s circle.”
To improve access, the design creates views of the track on one side and views of the paddock on the opposite side, including the site’s iconic Japanese white pine which was retained in the center of the paddock.
The new five-level trackside main complex has 7,500 seats that are protected by a large canopy.
Photo by Christine Kozak, courtesy of NYRA
Updated operations
Beyond the guest experience, the design aims to optimize operations while responding to the different needs of owners, trainers and jockeys. Much of the backbone of operations is in the basement. Spaces include: a sorting yard and loading dock; a security operations center; staff check-in; jockey areas, which include quarters, a modern changing room, a steam room, a sauna and a laundry center with rotating dry cleaning-style racks; multipurpose rooms; commercial shops for building engineers; green room for talent; a media workroom; office spaces; a turn; electrical service rooms; a cooling plant; and kitchen spaces. The commissary kitchens are located on the east side near a bank of service elevators. A cold and hot food storage area on the west side is adjacent to another bank of elevators.
Going up through the building, the back end infrastructure is mostly around the elevator cores, including the routing of many of the building’s systems. On the guest levels, the finished kitchens are located around the cores. General concessions and a sports bar are located on the first floor. Above the first floor, the facility features more premium hospitality spaces, including several restaurants and bars. An important aspect of the project is the transition of the existing open-air structure that only allowed for limited seasonal operations. The facility can now operate year-round, McWilliam says, and the team needed increased flexibility to allow it to go from hosting 2,000 to 50,000, depending on the event and time of year.
Creating a site for all weather wasn’t just a design goal. Roger Cettina, senior vice president at AECOM Tishman, says one of the main drivers behind the aggressive two-year schedule was to enclose the building and keep it out of the elements during construction. “We were demoing the old building and I’m looking at the schedule and the concern is, how do we make the place watertight?” he recalls “We have to build the mechanical systems inside, we have to do the elevators and we have to start building the actual finished spaces.”
Keeping the building dry was a top priority to allow crews to expedite interior work on a tight schedule.
Photo by Christine Kozak, courtesy of NYRA
Fast track to the finish line
After about six months of demolition, crews began foundation work in September 2024. “It was a crazy push from Day 1 to get the structure up,” says Cettina.
The structure sits on extended base foundations, including some that were retained and reused from the previous structure. Cettina says the soils, like most of Long Island, are sandy and the water table is about 30 feet below grade. The building is situated on a reinforced concrete structure up to level 3. The lift and concrete stair cores at each end of the building extend to the top floor. Above the third level, the building is structural steel, including the roof canopy.
“What we’re really trying to do is preserve its history while equipping the venue with the modern amenities that today’s sports fans expect.”
—Meg McWilliam, Principal and Senior Architect, Populous
Crews began building the footings and foundation walls, working from west to east. Once the foundation was about 75 percent done, Cettina says crews framed the ground floor and built basement shear walls and elevator shaft walls. In January 2025, the superstructure concrete builder was mobilized.
To assist with procurement, the design allowed crews to begin immediately on structural concrete, allowing for long steel delivery times. AECOM Tishman also pre-purchased items, particularly electrical and mechanical equipment, to mitigate the potential for delays. Previously purchased items included switchgear, switchboards, an emergency generator, rooftop HVAC units and chillers.
Above the concrete structure, steel columns extend three stories to the roof and canopy, which is also structural steel. The concrete cores extend to the roof. The steel structure is then attached to the concrete cores.
In July 2025, the steel contractor mobilized and began work on top of the completed west half of the structure, while concrete crews completed the east half.
Most of the elevated work in the new facility could be completed with elevators.
Photo by Christine Kozak, courtesy of NYRA
As the structure rose above ground, keeping water out became a constant concern, especially with so much critical equipment and infrastructure in the basement. Crews connected the drains and added temporary waterproofing around the shafts leading out of the basement so crews could build the lower floors. “We’ll leave people here if it’s going to rain a lot, just to make sure we can handle it,” he adds.
Although the building only has six levels, each one is unique. “The hard part is that the third floor has dining and club seating, while the fourth floor is all suites,” says Cettina. “The second floor has a lot of clubs. The ceilings are all different. The tile is different. Everything is different.”
With weather and water always a concern, the next big milestone was to close the building before winter. Crews began work in October on the facade, which consisted primarily of about 1,000 unit panels and 3,800 metal panels. By the end of the year, most of the facade, with the exception of some metal panels, was finished. Exterior work was done primarily with boom lifts.
“It was a crazy push from Day 1 to improve the structure.”
— Roger Cettina, Senior Vice President, AECOM Tishman
Although the facade work remained on schedule, winter still presented challenges. Two large snow storms hit the area. The first left nearly a foot of snow on the metal roof. When a second, larger storm hit the area in February, dropping nearly 30 inches on Long Island, Cettina says she feared the worst.
“The next morning I got up on the roof and there was no snow,” says Cettina. “It was very windy and the wind was blowing the right way [so] that snow was everywhere but the roof. And I liked to look up to the sky and I kissed.”
Throughout the project, the team collaborated regularly to find ways to save time and money on the project. In one case, AECOM Tishman recommended changing basement walls from masonry to mold-resistant drywall. “This saved approximately $2 million and made our lives much easier,” adds Cettina.
With the project on a fast schedule, many of the designs were incomplete during construction, especially the interiors. John Krush, NYRA project executive, says Populous had two architects on site during construction to help speed up decision-making. “A lot of things that would normally go through RFI and change orders, we ended up doing on the fly,” he says. “It was nice to be able to work directly with an architect who could make decisions and sign off on them.”
New tunnels created under a separate project will give guests access to the infield.
Photo by Christine Kozak, courtesy of NYRA
With a partial opening scheduled for Sept. 18, crews are finishing up the first two interior levels. The paddock works are also being completed. The third and fourth levels will be completed by the end of the year. The fifth floor is being left as shell space for future use. The project is currently at a maximum workforce with around 400 workers on site, six days a week. The project operates under a project labor agreement with the majority of trades coming from Nassau County.
“The challenge was always how do you maintain the tradition of horse racing and also revitalize it through modern architecture?” Krush says. “The team did an outstanding job, and this will become the new high water mark for future tracks.”
