MACHIAS, Maine — Using photographs, fair programs and other documentation, Washington County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald is attempting to have a former horse-racing track declared an official historic site.
She is working with the Machias Historical Society on the project, which will be submitted to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
If the racetrack were declared a historic site, opponents of a Maine Department of Transportation project on the nearby dike at Middle River could block a bridge option that would flood the track.
“I am going to write the best application I can,” Fitzgerald said. “I really think we’ll receive some consideration.”
DOT has proposed an option for the replacement of the dike that would include removing the flappers, or tide control valves. The racetrack, which sits on the eastern side of the Middle River behind a Dunkin’ Donuts shop, would be flooded if seawater were allowed under the dike unimpeded. Hundreds of acres would revert to salt marsh, opponents have argued.
At a public hearing held by DOT last fall, dozens of Machias residents objected to the plan. Those speaking in favor wanted to see sea-run fish return to the Middle River and questioned whether a federal Environmental Protection Agency permit could be obtained to replace the flappers.
A spring meeting has not been scheduled, DOT project manager Devon Anderson said this week.
“We still have a lot more research to do on the project,” he said.
Fitzgerald said her project began as an attempt to block the flapper removal but has gained steam as a historic move.
She said photos and documents date the racetrack to before 1887 and that the track once was part of a 16-acre Machias Park. It had a two-story exhibition hall on the northern end, a grandstand, a quarter-mile clay track, livestock buildings and a campground.
The property is owned by Christopher Sprague, who has publicly decried the dike project, citing the loss of his property.
“The bottom line is it should be preserved,” Fitzgerald said.