Although the other three corners at First and North avenues are all in Melrose Park, the 60 acres where Maywood Park sits is unincorporated land. (Chronicle Media photo)

In the end, Maywood Park could not outrun its problems.

A bankruptcy filing, a reduction in racing dates, revenue drying up, never getting the ever-elusive slot machines and a changing gambling population all led to the closure of the 69-year-old harness-racing facility. Maywood Park conducted its last races Friday evening. Its sister track, Balmoral in Crete, will cease to operate at the end of this year.

“It’s crushing to me. It’s terrible,” Tony Somone, executive director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, said of Maywood Park’s closing. “I’ve been going to that racetrack since 1978. I have great memories of its heydays.

“I am probably no different than a lot of people. It is heartbreaking to see the track close. I am sure the owners feel the same way.”

Maywood and Balmoral filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in an effort to rid themselves of a $75 million court judgment.

The tracks filed for Chapter 11 protection after a judge’s ruling that the harness-racing facilities owed four Illinois casinos millions based on a 3 percent riverboat-casino tax that was wrongfully imposed in 2006.

Neither track ever emerged from bankruptcy.

As tough as this year will be with the shuttering of Maywood and Balmoral, Somone says 2016 will likely be just as hard.

“It will be a difficult year,” Somone said. “Our opportunities have been contracted in half. The schedule calls for 117 days next year. That’s a change from 2015 when we had 192 dates and the last few years when we had 250 dates.”

Somone said horsemen need race dates to earn a paycheck.

“It is one thing to go to work four days or five days a week for the year,” Somone said. “Next year, we will only have five months of racing. Traditionally, we have been a year-round state for racing.”

Owners of Maywood Park say they had no choice but to close, noting that they were paying thousands more dollars in purses than they were earning in revenue.

Somone noted that Sportsman’s Park in Cicero will be the only harness track in the Chicago area as of next year.

“Things will be very different next year,” Somone said. “We will try to hang on and wait for the Legislature to help.”

That sought-after help is slot machines. Twice the state Legislature approved slot machines for Illinois race tracks, but both times then-Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the legislation.

“Slot machines (at race tracks) are still a tremendous new revenue source for the state once the budget is solved,” Somone said. “This would address some money issues.”

Somone said without slots Illinois racetracks cannot compete with neighboring states. He noted that 19 states, including Indiana, Ohio and Iowa, allow racetracks to have slot machines.

The Horsemen’s Association director said track revenues would be boosted by slot machines.

“They would make all the difference in the world,” Somone said. “Slots would boost purses and drive the sport.”

Although the other three corners at First and North avenues are all in Melrose Park, the 60 acres where Maywood Park sits is unincorporated land.

Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico said if anyone ever wants to develop the racetrack land, similarly to what was done on the former Kiddieland site — kitty-corner from the track where a Costco now sits — it would make sense to incorporate the land into the village at that point

“It would make more sense for a developer,” Serpico said. “We are a lot easier to deal with than the county, if things ever get to that point.”

The Melrose mayor does not expect the track’s closing to have much of an impact on surrounding restaurants and businesses.

“In the ’80s … I would see people go to Fifth and North and park there to save $3,” Serpico said. “Gamblers look at money differently. They will put $20 on a horse, but look to save $2 or $3 on parking.

“They are not there to do anything but bet at the race track … The impact will be negligible. I am confident of that.”

–Racing ends at Maywood; Balmoral next to close–