The demolition of Montreal’s historic horse racing track began Monday morning.
After 137 years of operation, the Blue Bonnets Raceway closed in 2009. The track was founded in Ville St. Pierre in 1872 but moved to its current location on Decarie Blvd. in 1907.
Blue Bonnets hosted harness racing, off-track betting and housed hundreds of video lottery terminals.
Dwindling attendance and competition with a growing number of off-track betting parlours led the raceway to declare bankruptcy in 2009.
Construction crews will be on site for the next five weeks as they tear apart the track and salvage scrap metal, concrete and other construction materials from its remains. The sprawling property is set to be decontaminated and sold to developers.
