The Dog Track

Did you know that we once had a popular greyhound racing track in Colorado Springs? It was still in operation when I was in college, but by the late '90s it had closed after more than 50 years of racing. I remember that there was a fancy restaurant called the Cloud 9 Room somewhere up in the grandstands, but I've never eaten there. I've only been to the track a couple of times: once during the tail end of its long decline, to hang out with a friend who worked there; a few years later I went there to attend a charity event, by which time racing had mostly ceased. By now it just looks like a decrepit eyesore, but believe it or not, according to one of my favorite Gazette writers, Bill Vogrin, there are a few commercial tenants who rent space at the old greyhound track. Even so, I think it's time to raze this timeworn heap. It looks terrible. A very large area, it's practically begging be redeveloped somehow. The neighborhood just to the east of the track is starting to perk up a little; gentrification is slowly creeping across those cute 1950s blocks. Why not make something of the Dog Track? It's for sale -- someone please buy it!