Valley 101

If you've driven west on the Interstate 10 heading out of town toward California, you may have noticed a giant plot of empty land just past Goodyear. Until 2017, there was a massive abandoned building on that land, drawing urban explorers and photographers. Before it was left empty, this state-of-the-art building was home for two seasons of horse racing. The Phoenix Trotting Park was expertly designed and opened in 1965. Attendees filled the beautiful grandstand to watch trotting style racing, but not for very long. In this week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we are joined by city reporter Martiza Dominguez to share how it was built, why it went under, and what the future holds for this plot of land.