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Jul. 27—The next phase in the development of the Aiken Steeplechase Racecourse is officially underway.
A groundbreaking ceremony, which included champagne, was held Wednesday for a finish line tower.
Other than fencing and gates, it will be the first permanent structure on the roughly 140-acre site at 2020 Richland Ave. E.
The Aiken Steeplechase Association’s main events — the Aiken Spring and Fall steeplechases — have been conducted there since last year.
They previously had been held at the Aiken Horse Park Foundation’s Bruce’s Field.
“It’s a big deal,” said Steeplechase Association President Frank Mullins of the finish line tower. “This will give us, I think, an air of permanence and stability, and it’s just the beginning. There is much more to follow.”
Plans call for the finish line tower to be completed prior to this year’s Fall Steeplechase, which is scheduled for Nov. 18 and will serve as the finale for the National Steeplechase Association’s 2023 season.
A temporary finish line tower was erected prior to each day of racing at the Aiken Steeplechase Racecourse in the past.
Hughes, Beattie, O’Neal, Law & Associates of Aiken designed the three-story permanent finish line tower.
R.W. Allen Construction of Augusta is the contractor. George Galvan also will be involved in the project.
The finish line tower “will be made of timbers” and have a metal roof, Mullins said.
“We still have to work all this out, but it will house a lot of functions,” he continued.
The first floor probably will be where “jockeys can go in and be weighed after a race, and there’ll be whatever stations the National Steeplechase Association needs to put in there,” Mullins said.
Owners, trainers, jockeys, sponsors and their families will be able to view the races from the finish line tower’s second floor.
The National Steeplechase Association’s “filming and timekeeping functions” will be on the third floor, and the stewards, who make sure that the rules of racing are followed, will be stationed there, Mullins said.
When racing isn’t being conducted, the finish line tower will be available to the public for other uses.
“We will lease it out for corporate events, weddings and whatever kind of function people might want to have there,” Mullins said.
The cost to build the tower is roughly $300,000.
Mullins said the donation of “a substantial amount” from local resident J.R. Stainbrook made the project possible.
“I’ve been a horseman for most of my adult life between foxhunting, polo and racing,” Stainbrook said. “I moved here in 2017, and it was the smartest move that I ever made. Aiken has exceeded my expectations.
“This is horse heaven, so my motto is all horses, all of the time,” he added. “This is an opportunity to help the city of Aiken, which is my permanent home now. It’s the least I could do.”
Stainbrook has ownership interests in several thoroughbred racehorses, including the steeplechaser Dante’s Fire.
“I had a firm on Wall Street,” Stainbrook said. “I retired when I was 50.”
The finish line tower will be named in Stainbrook’s honor.
The Steeplechase Association plans to add many other amenities at the racecourse in the future with the help of donors like Stainbrook.
“There will be opportunities for other people to come in and invest and have their legacy tied to Aiken steeplechasing,” Mullins said. “There will be some that are much more expensive than the tower, and there will be some that are much less.”
Donors will be sought to fund the construction of permanent stabling and other facilities such as a training track and an office with space for meetings and a museum.