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Keller @ Large: Can Suffolk Downs Be Saved?

BOSTON (CBS) - So the Boston-area casino is going to be in Everett, barring any new revelations about criminal activity involving the site. And that means curtains for the last major thoroughbred horse-racing venue in Massachusetts.

Suffolk Downs is set to close at the end of this month, wiping out 800 jobs and most of what's left of an industry that generated close to 1,500 outside jobs and supported over 130 farms.

I've met some of the men and women who worked at Suffolk, and you'll never meet a nicer, harder-working group of people.

They deserve better. But that's capitalism for you, right?

Businesses and industries come and go, and if you get dealt out in the shuffle, well, that's just the way it goes.

Or is it?

Last May, a well-promoted simulcast of the Kentucky Derby and a live racing card drew a packed house at Suffolk Downs, most of them far younger than the usual clientele there.

This summer, a terrible Red Sox team has drawn more than 2.7 million fans to Fenway Park at exorbitant prices.

Our old city, anything but trendy, continues to swarm with tourists from all over the world.

This raises the question – if the retro experience of live horse racing at a charming old place like Suffolk were, with all due respect to the current owners, more cleverly and aggressively marketed over an extended period of time, could it catch on again and be a viable commercial enterprise?

I bet it could, maybe in combination with soccer and live music.

Here's hoping the current owners, or new ones, can come to see Suffolk Downs as a new opportunity, instead of an over-the-hill burden.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

Keller at Large Sept 17 2014

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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