Officials with Hazel Park Raceway announced this morning (Thursday, April 5) that the Michigan track, which was the first five-eighths-mile harness course in the United States, has closed.

In addition to a pair of mainstream media reports, (here and here), track management also unveiled the news Thursday morning via its website and social media outlets. Track employees – which number roughly 90 – that had headed into work were greeted by locked doors and a sign conveying the closure.

Hazel Park Raceway first hosted Standardbred racing in 1953. Decades later, the track would go on to host live harness racing exclusively from 1985 to the spring of 2014, after which it solely offered live Thoroughbred racing. Hazel Park had been scheduled to kick off its 2018 live meet on May 4. The closure also means the end of simulcasting at the facility.

The signs posted at Hazel Park on Thursday offered a short message which read, ‘After nearly 70 years, Hazel Park Raceway is closing effective April 5, 2018. We want to express our heartfelt appreciation to our employees, visitors, supporters and long-standing community partners.’

Media reports state that the closure had been announced internally during a Thursday staff meeting. The track first opened its doors in 1949, and had been operating at 10 Mile and Dequindre in Hazel Park ever since. Raceway officials have conveyed that an outside company will be present to seize the track assets Thursday, as an agreement to do so is currently in place.

(With files from FOX 2 Detroit and Click On Detroit)