After a two-month delay, demolition of the former Waterloo Greyhound Park is now scheduled to begin next week (July 25, 2018).

The old dog track has sat empty since July of 1996, when the financially-strapped facility permanently closed after almost 10 years of operation. For the past 22 years, the building has sat deteriorating on 64-acres of prime development land at the intersection of U.S. Highways 20 and 63 on the southern edge of Waterloo.

Today, the long-abandoned structure has broken windows, graffiti, and overgrown weeds. In its present state, the vacant building is one of the city's biggest eyesores.

Townsquare Media Waterloo recently was granted permission to go inside the vacant dog track to view the destruction caused by vandals over the past two decades (See video above).

According to Hudson Attorney Michael Youngblut, demolition will begin with an 11 AM press conference at Waterloo Greyhound Park on Wednesday (July 25, 2018). The vacant building will be razed and the property cleared for future development.

Right now, "the site is being prepped and full demolition will begin on the 25th," Youngblut wrote in an email to Townsquare Media Waterloo this week. "It should only be a matter of weeks before all of the structures are down."

Youngblut negotiated the agreement that is finally allowing the dog track to be torn down after all these years. The deal, announced in May, resolved a long-running legal battle between the National Cattle Congress -- owner of Waterloo Greyhound Park -- and the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa -- also known as Meskwaki Nation. The Meskwakis have held a lean on NCC property since 1995, when the tribe loaned $9.1 million to the non-profit organization to keep it operating after NCC filed for bankruptcy.

Under the agreement, Deer Creek Development will acquire and develop the 64-acre parcel of land once the property is cleared. Youngblut is the company's attorney. His father, Harold, is president and CEO of Deer Creek Development.

According to Michael Youngblut, several developers have expressed interest in the Waterloo Greyhound Park location.

"We have been in contact with multiple parties having interest in locating their businesses on the site," he wrote in the email. "We look forward to all of the potential for new business development that this site holds in store for Waterloo."

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