HENDERSON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved the sale of Ellis Park on Tuesday to new ownership that has ambitious plans for the track.

Those ideas: Installation of lights, expansion of the gaming facility to include restaurants and construction of a hotel on the property.

Ellis Entertainment, a subsidiary of Laguna Development Corporation based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will purchase the assets of the track from Saratoga Casino and Hospitality Group for $11 million.

“Our three-phase plan, all in, be about another $100 million in investment in Ellis Park. We think that’s extremely important. We want to grow. We want to be robust. We want Henderson to be proud of that facility again,” Ken Mimmack, a member of Ellis Entertainment’s board of managers, told the racing commission.

While this will be Laguna’s first venture into horse racing, the group owns several casinos, hotels, restaurants and convenience stores. The Laguna Development Corporation is owned by the Laguna Pueblo, a federally recognized tribe of approximately 7,000 Native American Pueblo people.

With the 2019 meet scheduled to begin on June 30, the current management team will operate the live meet with Jeff Hall remaining as general manager and Dan Bork as the racing secretary.

“We’ve asked the management group of Saratoga to stay involved so that the transition of this racing meet goes seamlessly and goes as planned,” Mimmack said.

The new owners will operate the Historical Horse Racing facility and had already begun maintenance and facility upgrades as part of a comprehensive remodeling and expansion plan.

Most of the first phase of the new owners’ plan are already completed, Mimmack said. They include acquisition of the property, the addition of approximately 300 loads of dirt to the racing surface, improvements to the track’s drainage system, the demolition of unsafe barns and repairs to internal stalls of some other barns, the removal of an unsafe area in the grandstand, roof repairs on the grandstand and clubhouse and the installation of new heat and air systems in the sky terrace and clubhouse.

Still to be completed with the first phase is an upgrade to the track’s water system.

“We didn’t want to take over the meet and have some of the struggles it’s had over the last number of years. The facility has been losing money for a number of years,” Mimmack said. “We applaud Saratoga for stepping in and taking the facility off life support. We believe it is in intensive care, but we think with our plan we get it out and make a robust new operation here.”

Once the live meet is complete, a $55 million expansion will begin for phase two of the project.

“Two or three months ago, I met with Dan (Bork) and Jeff (Hall) and asked ‘What are a couple of things that we can do to show that we are committed to racing in Kentucky and that we want to do this right?’” Mimmack said. “They both said, ‘Widen the turf track and give me lights.' ”

The addition of lights will allow Ellis Park to avoid the hot days of afternoon racing in July and August.

"It gives us an option to move some of those race times. We can have evening racing when the heat isn’t so bad. We can change our simulcasting and improve operations,” Mimmick said.

“The widening of the turf track is important because it’s narrow (now). We’d like put another three lanes in there to take us to larger field sizes,” he said.

The expanded turf track and the lights would be ready for the 2020 season, Mimmick said.

As the final part of phase two, the new owners would begin construction on a new entertainment facility early in 2020. The new construction, which would house the simulcast area, historical horse racing facility, restaurants and food venues, would be a 70,000- to 80,000-square-foot addition to the existing facility.

“We want this facility to become an entertainment center. We want it to have racing as a primary aspect of it. We also want to compete with the facility that’s across the river,” Mimmack said referencing the Tropicana Casino in Evansville. “We want to make sure that Ellis Park is back on the map. A lot of people we talk to think it’s closed, and we need to turn that around.”

The final aspect of the expansion project is contingent on the success of the second phase and would include the construction of a hotel in the first turn of the track.

“We would have the ability to have balconies and a viewing area on the top side of the hotel,” Mimmack said.

While expressing excitement at the owners’ plan, commission member Larry Bisig also issued a caution. “I want everybody to keep in mind that these licenses are a privilege. They are not a right. If you stand before us and you say you’re going to do things, we are going to hold you to it,” he said. “We are under a ton of pressure. This stuff has got to get done. I hold each of you professionally and personally (responsible) if you say it, that it comes through. That is darn exciting stuff that you’re showing us. I just want to make sure it happens.”

“We feel very comfortable with what we are committing to today,” Mimmack replied.

The transfer of ownership from Saratoga to Ellis Entertainment is scheduled to be completed within the next several days, according to a press release.

The Saratoga Group had purchased 30 percent ownership of Ellis Park from Ron Geary in 2012 and purchased the remaining 70 percent last summer.

The Laguna Development Group owns three casino properties in New Mexico -- the Route 66 Casino Hotel, Dancing Eagle Casino and Casino Express. The group is also competing for the last racing license available in New Mexico, Mimmack said.

In addition to approving the sale, the racing commission approved the group’s request to operate 1,200 historical racing machines up from the 300 that Ellis Park is currently authorized for.

More:Saratoga Group's purchase of Ellis Park approved by racing commission