Arlington's Backstretch: The Wrong Side of the Track

By: Danielle GordonArlington International Racecourse sits on 325 acres of green, manicured lawns in northwest suburban Arlington Heights. The track, which has been called the "Taj Mahal" of horse racing, boasts a six-story, 700,000-square-foot grandstand and clubhouse. With its restaurants, lounges, seven bars and 1,200 closed circuit television monitors, the track can handle crowds of 35,000.

But the estimated 1,500 workers and their families who live at the track do not share in Arlington's splendor. The workers who groom and exercise the thoroughbreds live next to the stables, hidden from the crowds in an area known as the "backstretch."

Most of the workers with families live in a two-story, concrete-block dormitory with rooms just under 12 feet by 12 feet. The rooms have cement floors and walls, naked light bulbs and no telephone jacks or kitchen facilities. Windows and doors are on the same wall, offering no cross ventilation. At the center of each row of rooms are communal bathrooms.

"Going from the millionaire's club to the backstretch is like entering another world," said state Sen. Miguel del Valle, a Chicago Democrat who visited the backstretch in 1993.

Workers in this world have had few places to turn for help over the years, said social worker Joan Rappaport, who worked at the track from 1977 to 1982. "It is incredibly discouraging that we are still talking about the same conditions and problems."

Track officials took little action even after dysentery broke out in the dorms in August, infecting 17 people.

"It is way beyond our means to provide any additional housing," said Robert L. Bork, the track's chief operating officer.

But state officials finally may be giving the backstretch a closer look.

On Feb. 7, Gov. Jim Edgar appointed a 22-member task force in response to Arlington owner Richard L. Duchossois' demand for a casino to help him compete with the new Grand Victoria Casino in nearby Elgin.

Until recently, the task force had not concerned itself with the backstretch, said state Sen. John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat and task force member.

But after being interviewed by The Chicago Reporter, Cullerton said he "made it my business to raise this issue."

Now the task force is considering recommendations that would require backstretch improvements at Arlington and the state's three other thoroughbred race tracks, he said.

In exchange, the General Assembly would approve lower taxes and larger stakes for the tracks to help them compete with riverboat gambling, Cullerton said.

Duchossois, a task force member, has demanded an "alternative form of wagering" at Arlington and changes to the Illinois racing rules. Without these changes, Duchossois said he will close the track.

"If we don't get a [casino] license here, we will be down 35 to 40 percent," he said in an interview.

"I am no longer willing to continue the tremendous personal financial drain caused by a completely tilted playing field," he said.

Backstretch jobs
Duchossois cites Arlington's 4,500 racing industry jobs as the "real issue" in his appeal for a gambling license. These are "real people with real jobs in an endangered industry," he said.

But most of these workers move from track to track during the racing season. Only about 200 workers are full-time, year-round employees at Arlington, said state Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, a Palatine Republican.

Last year, Miguel, a 36-year-old groom from Mexico, lived in one room at Arlington with his wife, also a backstretch worker, and three of their four children. His oldest child, a 13 year old, is back in Mexico. Miguel, who will return to Arlington this year, would not give his last name for fear of reprisal.

He and his wife work at the track to give their children a chance to "learn English and stand up for themselves," Miguel said in Spanish. "I want them to have a better job so that they're not working in this job."

Miguel and the other grooms, hotwalkers, exercise boys and pony boys bathe and feed the horses, clean their stalls and walk the horses to cool them down after they race. Backstretch workers are licensed by the Illinois Racing Board and employed by the trainers, who in turn work for the horses' owners.

Twenty years ago, almost two-thirds of the backstretch workers were white and 22 percent were black, according to a report by Travelers Aid Backstretch Services, a social service project of Travelers and Immigrant Aid that ended in 1982. More recent statistics have not been compiled.

Today, "there has been a move toward Hispanic personnel, primarily from Mexico," said trainer Jerry McGrath, a 21-year veteran of the track.

Backstretch workers are among the lowest paid in the horse racing industry. A first-year groom earns up to $300 per week and beginning hotwalkers make up to $175, McGrath said. Workers are paid for 40 to 50 weeks a year.

Workers rarely leave the track during the season. "We can't live outside the track because we take care of the horses," Miguel said.

One job application says backstretch workers must have "no fear of horses. Very hazardous occupation. Must be dependable, cannot be on a day-to-day basis. On call 24 hours a day."

"These are different living conditions to what you or I would accept, but they are free rooms and people are happy with them for the most part," said Commissioner Richard H. Balog of the Racing Board, which regulates the state's horse racing industry.

"The rooms are their own little territory," he said. "It is a tradition in horse racing that these are the accommodations."

Track Life
The backstretch is seldom seen by the public.

The Racing Board inspects the barns monthly and the housing twice a year. But in a letter to the Reporter, the Board said it keeps "no records of hearings, site visits or investigations of living conditions on the backstretch of any racetrack in northern Illinois."

In July 1989, Arlington banned the Rev. David Krueckeberg from the backstretch after he began helping workers who filed a lawsuit to allow their children to live at the track. Krueckeberg was later allowed to visit part of the backstretch under a limited schedule as part of a settlement agreement.

Track officials refuse requests to see the dormitories, saying that only licensed workers are allowed on the backstretch.

And security is tight. About 20 Arlington and five Racing Board guards are always on the backstretch, said Dan Martinez, the Board's director of security.

Workers interviewed by the Reporter complained about the guards' intrusiveness. "There are times even at 10 (p.m.) that the security guards patrol and knock and if you don't open the door, they open it-they have a key," Miguel said.

The isolation of the backstretch was interrupted in August, when a rare strain of dysentery broke out in two of the dorms. The 17 people infected included 15 children under age 6.

Over the following weeks, village, county and state health officials inspected the track.

The outbreak "would normally have gone unnoticed," Bork wrote in a Sept. 16 memo to track employees. "However, with Arlington being a very visible institution, it did attract unnecessary attention."

Shigellosis, which causes fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea, is common in developing countries and thrives in overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. It is carried in human feces and can be spread through poor hygiene and contaminated food and water. Outbreaks must be reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Conditions in backstretch dorms and backstretch areas contribute to the problem," said Tom Oas, director of health services for the Village of Arlington Heights.

The outbreak occurred in two of the older dormitories. One of the dorms affected generally houses families. That dorm, built in 1975, has 127 rooms which are 142-square feet. The other dorm was one of two that were built in 1972, each has 159 rooms that measure 100-square feet.

Five additional dorms were built between 1980 and 1989. These buildings have 160 double occupancy rooms that measure 200-square feet and have their own bathrooms.

Inspectors from the Illinois Department of Public Health found that the bathrooms in the family dormitory violate the Illinois Plumbing Code, which requires that family living quarters contain one lavatory and shower per unit.

The three oldest buildings each have four bathrooms; each shower is shared by more than 13 people.

Inspectors also found "plugged floor drains, toilet paper on floors, no hot water, eating utensils and laundry being washed in rest room sinks."

It took track officials 13 days to provide soap, paper towels and waste baskets after being ordered to do so, according to department reports.

Inspectors found hot plates, microwave ovens and refrigerators in workers' rooms, although cooking is prohibited there.

And Oas noted that food waste was being flushed down the toilets, and spilled on toilet seats and bathroom floors. Residents also were keeping drinking water in their rooms in five-gallon buckets, he said.

Workers say they cook in their rooms because of high prices at the track cafeteria. Cooking is a source of tension between workers and track officials, Miguel said.

"All afternoon, the security guards are sniffing by the windows," he said. "If they smell food they knock and they take away the hot plates."

After the dysentery outbreak, Oas suggested that Arlington lower prices at the track's cafeteria and provide inexpensive bottled water.

Arlington officials said the cafeteria already does not make a profit and they would not provide bottled water.

Despite the living conditions, few backstretch workers have spoken out. Several workers declined to be interviewed by the Reporter.

Some workers without required immigration papers "are too scared to say no," said an African American groom, who asked not to be identified. "If they speak their minds, they could get thrown out."

"And now that I live off the track, I can be a little more vocal than these people," he said.

Track Children
The more than 100 children that live at Arlington have been the subject of court battles since the early 1980s. Both village and track officials oppose children living on the backstretch.

"There still are a number of dangers to kids back there, including the horses in stalls about 50 feet away from the dorms and standing water from the horses being washed down," Oas said.

Track officials last tried to bar children in 1992 by limiting access to anyone without a Racing Board license. Workers, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, filed a lawsuit charging the track with violating the federal Fair Housing Act. At the time, about 250 children under 18 were living there, according to court documents.

One plaintiff, Eugenio Pacheco, said in a sworn statement, "If my wife and I are not allowed to live with our child at the racetrack, we do not know what we will do."

Eugenio earned about $200 per week as a groom, while his wife made $125 per week as a hotwalker. At the time, they had a 6-month-old son, Eugene.

"Patricia and Eugene probably will have to move back to Mexico while I continue to work at the racetrack," he said.

In a Nov. 14, 1994 settlement, Arlington agreed not to enforce its policy against children, although spouses not employed at the track still cannot live on the backstretch.

Illinois is the only state that allows children in stable areas, track executive Bork said. Two parents working at the track can earn enough to "obtain housing off the track and not subject their children to the rigors of such a life," he said.

A working couple would have a combined annual salary of $25,000, he said.

Even so, only 10 percent of the units in Arlington Heights rent for less than $500 per month, according to the 1990 census. The median monthly rent is $655.

And workers have little opportunity for subsidized housing.

The waiting list for these workers for subsidized private housing under the Section 8 program was closed in 1991 and will not reopen until at least 1996, said Gary Jump, Section 8 coordinator for the Cook County Housing Authority.

The high cost of housing in Arlington Heights forces more workers to live at the track than at the other thoroughbred courses in Northern Illinois, according to officials at Sportsman's Park and Hawthorne Race Course.

During the season, about 1,000 workers, including 160 children, live at Sportsman's in Cicero, a spokesman said. Median rent in Cicero was $349 in 1990. At least 630 residents are housed in Hawthorne in southwest suburban Stickney. The town's median rent was $466.

The quality of housing at these tracks is better than at Arlington, workers said. In 1993, the Racing Board concluded that Sportsman's accommodations for backstretch residents are "the best in Illinois." Sportsman's was the first track in the nation to provide bathrooms in each room, a track spokesman said.

Half the 315 double occupancy rooms at Hawthorne have their own bathrooms, said Hawthorne President Thomas Carey.

Golden Egg
While horse racing is one of Illinois' most regulated industries, state and local officials have taken an increasingly hands-off approach to fixing conditions on the backstretch.

Arlington was originally built in an unincorporated area that became part of Arlington Heights in 1969. During the first five years, Arlington was allowed to keep the dorms as they were even though they did not comply with village building codes, documents show.

In 1974, Arlington agreed to provide a toilet, shower and sink for every 15 people.

Then in 1979, the track agreed that new housing units would be at least 190 square feet, would hold no more than two people, and would meet certain minimum building standards.

But the new code did not apply to the three oldest dormitories.

"The Village did not want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg," said former Village Trustee Alice Harms.

Inspections of the backstretch housing by the village since 1990 have found no health code violations. The village has recommended minor repairs such as painting. Older inspection records are not available.

Of the eight village trustees, only Dwight Walton has been inside the dorms, which he called "acceptable."

"We can't fall into the trap of comparing that housing to our housing because these are very temporary facilities and people only live in them a few months of the year," he said.

The Village of Arlington Heights cannot force the track to improve conditions because the village's building code does not cover the older housing, Oas said.

If another outbreak occurs, "the village might need to discuss changing the ordinances," he said.

In the past, the Racing Board has made housing improvements a condition of its license.

But Lorna E. Propes, a Racing Board commissioner, said Arlington would close all backstretch housing if the Board forced it to build better quarters.

"I'm not saying the housing is decent-it's not," she said. "But it's not like there is a scrooge out there standing between the horsemen and better housing. It's no one's fault."

Making Deals
In December, Duchossois agreed to keep Arlington open in 1995, but reduced the racing season to 55 days, down from 131 in 1994. He vows to close Arlington after the season if his demands are not met.

Del Valle said that before a deal is made to keep the track open, Arlington officials should answer questions about the backstretch. "These issues should be related," he said.

But state Sen. Marty Butler, a Republican from Park Ridge, called del Valle's suggestion a "strong-armed approach" that made him "uncomfortable."

One source of funding for improvements to the backstretch is the Illinois Race Track Improvement Fund, which is collected from a percentage of bets wagered at each track. The fund was created to help defray the cost of capital improvements.

Each track has its own account; last year, Arlington's balance stood at $1.1 million.

Since reopening in 1989, Arlington has received $5.9 million from the fund. Of that total, the track has paid $3.8 million to architects, $1.9 million for asphalt paving, and about $5,000 for shrubbery.

The track has spent only $16,000 on the backstretch, to repair dormitory rest rooms and replace light fixtures.

"Obviously, the backstretch is not a priority," del Valle said. "The shrubs are getting plenty of attention, and the people are getting little."

But Arlington spent $200,000 out of its revenues to repair dormitory bathrooms in 1990 and 1991, Bork said.

The Racing Board made the repairs a condition of Arlington's license.

State Sen. Cullerton's proposal to the governor's task force would require tracks to spend half of the fund on the backstretch in 1996, and lesser amounts as needed in subsequent years, he said.

He also will propose legislation to strengthen the Racing Board's power to ensure that the money is spent "equitably."

Arlington officials would not comment on the proposal, but Cullerton said he expects Duchossois to "reluctantly" agree as part of a larger package of changes that would benefit Arlington.

If Duchossois decides to push his case for a casino license, he'll have a fight on his hands in the General Assembly, state Sen. Fitzgerald said.

"We can't have the legislature guaranteeing an individual's fortune," Fitzgerald said. "We are not here to socialize (Duchossois') losses."

Danielle Gordon is a free-lance writer.
Contributing: Paul F. Cuadros
Interns Jody E. Campbell and Shruti Date helped research this article.