The nearly 20-acre site that will be the future home of the Ellis Park gaming facility was purchased for $1.6 million, according to a deed filed Friday.
The deed filed with the Daviess County Clerk shows that Ellis Entertainment LLC, owned by Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), purchased the approximately 19.998-acre site at the corner of U.S. Highway 60 East and Wrights Landing Road from Keugel and Kamuf Land Co.
The land company is co-owned by Road Keugel and Charles Kamuf. The 5-page deed was prepared by the Kamuf, Pace, & Kamuf law firm.
CDI has released very little information regarding the project. Four documents related to the property have been filed with the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet.
Two of those documents, bot related to a stream construction permit issued in October, outline approval for the application of a “racing machine facility including 68,904 [square feet] of building.” The rest of those documents outlines certain conditions related to constructing the facility in a floodplain. A third document shows approval of a construction stormwater permit.
The final document is a very rough drawing of the site plan. The drawing shows that the main parking lot will be to the west of the building. Two main entrances/exits are shown as being on Wrights Landing Road. An entrance-only feeds off of U.S. 60 into both the main parking lot and a smaller lot to the south side of the building.
The property was rezoned in July. At that time, confidential sources told Owensboro Times that CDI was building the Ellis Park extension there. CDI spokespersons did not respond to questions at that time, while Kuegel and Kamuf declined to answer questions about the project.
After months of silence, CDI finally confirmed they were building the Ellis Park extension at that intersection after they printed a legal notice in the Messenger-Inquirer on September 14.
The next day, Communications Manager Logan Spradlin said in a statement, “We are starting the development plan approval process to construct our Ellis Park extension project on 20 acres at the corner of U.S. Highway 60 East and Wrights Landing Road in eastern Daviess County.”
Spradlin said they look forward to sharing more details about the “regional tourism destination,” including the total investment and a groundbreaking date in the weeks ahead, but they have not released anything since that time.
CDI first confirmed it had secured a site to build the facility in eastern Daviess County in June. At that time, a spokesperson said they nixed plans to use Towne Square Mall after the Owensboro City Commission “rejected” the company’s proposal and “were not willing to reconsider at that time.”
The spokesperson also said the project was slated to cost $75 million.
OT was the first to report on May 31 that CDI had nixed the plans to use Towne Square Mall for the Ellis Park extension, and the company was looking for other locations to build the entertainment venue. On June 1, City Commissioners spoke to OT about their reactions to CDI pulling the plug on using the mall. None were surprised by the decision.
OT broke the news about the initial plans for the Ellis Park expansion in October 2021, and in March 2022 OT was the first to report Ellis Park had reached a definitive lease agreement with TSM Holdings LLC to lease 62,000 square feet in the former JCPenney’s location.
The project at the mall was estimated to cost $20 million. Construction was originally supposed to begin in Summer 2022 with an anticipated opening date in early 2023, but little progress was ever made on the building.
In September 2022, CDI announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ellis Park Racing & Gaming in Henderson for a total consideration of $79 million in cash. The agreement called for CDI to assume Ellis Park’s track extension facility project in Owensboro.
According to a release at the time, “CDI has commenced planning to make both critical investments in the Ellis Park racing infrastructure and to construct Owensboro Racing & Gaming, a track extension and entertainment venue at Owensboro’s Towne Square Mall that will feature 600 HRMs, a simulcast wagering center, and multiple food and beverage offerings.”
Company officials said CDI expected its total investment in Henderson and Daviess counties to be approximately $75 million in addition to the purchase price.
A week after the acquisition announcement, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission officially approved Churchill Downs’ purchase of Ellis Park.
