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For Global Gaming Solutions (GGS) LLC, a constant task is acquiring and developing gaming racing properties with strong potential. And at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, GGS has enhanced that potential, Vice President of Supply Chain and Development Greg Pittman says.

Recently, the company completed a revitalization project on the park, which is a horserace track and casino that opened in 1986. “It was a state-of-the-art, high-end facility when it was originally built,” Pittman says.

However, when sales declined, the owner stopped investing in Remington Park. “It was a property that had a lot of deferred maintenance,” Pittman says, adding that conditions improved in 2006, when electronic games were added. “That’s when it started to get better.”

Revitalizing Remington

Things further improved when GGS acquired Remington Park in 2010. Immediately, the company started a $15 million revitalization project that needed to be completed by the fall. “We had to have it all completed before the thoroughbred race reason, [which] started in August,” Pittman explains.

For the project, Global Gaming hired BELFOR USA, which specializes in disaster recovery and property restoration. “That was our first time with them,” Pittman says, noting the company also utilized multiple subcontractors, including Midwest Commercial Construction, “who we use on the majority of our projects.”

Before construction started on the facility, GGS surveyed its customers and asked them what they thought would make the park better. “We did the majority of what they told us to do,” Pittman recalls, adding that the company added a plaza area outside of the racetrack with a 15-foot-high waterfall and grassy areas. “The idea was to make it a fun place that families want to go to.”

He adds that this goal carried into the building with high-end carpets, fresh coats of paint and new audio/visual features. For instance, “We [added] 47-inch TVs with all new flat screens,” he says. 

“We have an outdoor video display screen [that] is four and a half stories tall by 60 feet wide,” he says. Additionally, Remington Park implemented a second screen that is 22 feet tall and 60 feet wide.

With the screens, Remington Park can utilize interactive features during the horse races and display information about the horse, odds and jockeys. “In between, we’ll be displaying fun stuff like a kissing contest, trivia games and OU College games,” he says. “There’s always something going on.”

Following the Timeline

Pittman is pleased with the work of BELFOR USA, as well as the subcontractors. “We had actually no issues with the general contractor or subs,” he says. “When you’re talking about doing something in that period, it was a miracle.”

This was especially true when it came to the challenges that Mother Nature presented, Pittman says. In the middle of the project, the area experienced a major hailstorm and rainstorm, which led the company to speed up its process after both had passed. 

“We literally had to have it running [by August or] we would have had to cancel those races,” Pittman admits. “The impact financially and from a relationship side would have been huge. A lot of people’s livelihoods were at stake if we did not follow that timeline.”

The hard work of the project team has paid off, Pittman reports. “Attendance has jumped over 25 percent,” he says. “We have received more press in this last year than ever.”

In addition, the Remington Park property is being used year round for many types of events, including parties, proms, anniversaries and meetings. “It’s a multi-use property,” he says. “We’ve been able to run boxing there.”

This summer, Remington Park also has held movie nights with its large outdoor screens. “It’s almost like an outdoor drive-in,” he reports.

Gaming Focused

Based in Ada, Okla., GGS also focuses on emerging gaming markets, and providing management, transaction and development services to others in the gaming industry. The Chickasaw Nation owns the company, which focuses on opportunities in the United States and overseas.

Pittman notes that GGS has used BELFOR USA since the Remington Park project. Currently, the two are working together on a revitalization of Lone Star Park, a large horseracing park in Grand Prairie, Texas. “[It will be] completed by the end of February 2012,” he predicts, noting that the project has a budget of nearly $4 million.