Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Thursday, July 18, 2024
The first dog track. More from the Iowa-Alman Act in a moment. Eat up the summer with an Iowa Soybean Association Farmer Membership powered by the Soybean Check-off. Access timely industry info, engage in on-farm research, and join producer programs all designed to support your operations' unique needs. Activate or confirm your membership before August 31st to be entered to win one of many unique prizes, including a solo stove. Visit isoybeans.com today to learn more. The Iowa Soybean Association driven to deliver for Iowa's nearly 37,000 Soybean Farmers. In 1984, the Iowa Legislature passed the Parramutual Wagering Act, which allowed Greyhound and horse racing in Iowa. Many cities looked to the new option as a revenue source for their respective regions. Dubuque voters overwhelmingly approved a bond referendum for construction of a Greyhound racing track in April of that year. Dubuque was in competition with Waterloo and Cedar Rapids for a Greyhound racing license. Cedar Rapids also put in a bid for a horse racing license, as did Des Moines. The Iowa Racing Commission spent six weeks studying the various applications, each of which was hundreds of pages long. Finally, on July 18th, 1984, the Commission announced that Dubuque would receive the first license. A week later came word that the track would be assigned the more lucrative summer racing schedule as well. Around 5750 people applied for the 300 jobs at the track. The first Greyhounds began training at the facility on May 7th, 1985, and the Dubuque Greyhound Park opened for business on July 1st of that year. The first years were strong for the track, but increased competition from Waterloo, including overlapping summer racing seasons, hurt both tracks. The Greyhound Park in Dubuque lost $850,000 in 1992 alone. Changes in state law allowed slot machines at racetracks, and that allowed some to stay in business, but quickly the casino portion overshadowed the tracks. In its first 30 years of operation, the Dubuque Racing Association gave $43 million to charitable organizations. But the license for the Dubuque Greyhound Park, the nation's first non-profit Greyhound track, and Iowa's first paramutual racetrack of any kind, was granted by the Iowa Racing Commission on this date in 1984. And that's Iowa Almanac for July 18th. There's more online at aiowaholmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein. Stein.