Demolition continues in Phase Two of the Churchill Downs renovation. And as workers tear into the building that's such a huge part of racing history, they're uncovering history as they go. WAVE 3's Shannon Davidson has a looks at some rare finds.
It's a time when the paddock area looks more like a battlefield than a place to show race horses, and Tony Terry admits the place "resembles a war zone."
It's hard to imagine that under all the rubble lies a mountain of treasures, including items left behind by construction workers in the 1930s left behind, now being unearthed by construction workers in the new millennium.
Old Coca-Cola bottles, stamped "Louisville, Kentucky" on the bottom, were found under the foundation of the clubhouse.
"We were just putting up the wall so sand wouldn't drain all over the place," said Matt Decker, "and there were all kinds of them lying around."
Apparently someone left their coke bottles in the concrete mix when it was poured more than six decades ago.
Other treasures include bourbon bottles that date back to the 50s and 60s and an admission ticket that let some lucky -- or unlucky -- soul into the Downs on Saturday, November 17th, 1956.
"You notice that the price was 75 cents -- only a dollar and a quarter less than the price of admission today," Terry points out.
But the best find yet has to be a mutuel ticket from the 1938 spring meet, when Colonel Matt Winn was at the helm at Churchill Downs.
"Somehow it made it's way to the ground, worked its way through the boards," Terry said. "And when they ripped up the boards, there it was for us to find."
There's no way of knowing who owned the ticket -- perhaps betters from the same era could stake a claim. After all, the losing ticket is worth more today than it was the day its horse lost at the track 65 years ago.
Another item found this week: a chair from the 1940s, discovered behind an old mutuel line. It was most likely used by a security guard who sat by the betting counters.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1385530&nav=0RZFHF27
It's a time when the paddock area looks more like a battlefield than a place to show race horses, and Tony Terry admits the place "resembles a war zone."
It's hard to imagine that under all the rubble lies a mountain of treasures, including items left behind by construction workers in the 1930s left behind, now being unearthed by construction workers in the new millennium.
Old Coca-Cola bottles, stamped "Louisville, Kentucky" on the bottom, were found under the foundation of the clubhouse.
"We were just putting up the wall so sand wouldn't drain all over the place," said Matt Decker, "and there were all kinds of them lying around."
Apparently someone left their coke bottles in the concrete mix when it was poured more than six decades ago.
Other treasures include bourbon bottles that date back to the 50s and 60s and an admission ticket that let some lucky -- or unlucky -- soul into the Downs on Saturday, November 17th, 1956.
"You notice that the price was 75 cents -- only a dollar and a quarter less than the price of admission today," Terry points out.
But the best find yet has to be a mutuel ticket from the 1938 spring meet, when Colonel Matt Winn was at the helm at Churchill Downs.
"Somehow it made it's way to the ground, worked its way through the boards," Terry said. "And when they ripped up the boards, there it was for us to find."
There's no way of knowing who owned the ticket -- perhaps betters from the same era could stake a claim. After all, the losing ticket is worth more today than it was the day its horse lost at the track 65 years ago.
Another item found this week: a chair from the 1940s, discovered behind an old mutuel line. It was most likely used by a security guard who sat by the betting counters.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1385530&nav=0RZFHF27
