Arlington Park marks 30th anniversary of fire
In the halls of Arlington Park there is a picture of the aftermath of the devastating 1985 fire with the motto 'Quit, Hell No!'
Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the blaze. Though the fire destroyed the venue, no lives were lost.
Owner Dick Duchossois personally shook hands and thanked fire chiefs from area departments at a special ceremony held after the sixth race on Friday.
"It's a wonderful day because we're here with the people that allowed Arlington to reopen again and rebuild it," said Duchossois. "They did just a marvelous job they put their life on the line, they went in got the fire and took care of everything and gave us an opportunity to rebuild."
In just 21 days, people cleared the rubble out so Duchossois' commitment to run the Arlington Million, dubbed the Miracle Million by the press, would happen, he noted.
Tony Petrillo was working for the racing commission when he saw the fire 30 years ago from Route 53. He said he had a premonition that Arlington would come back and that one day he would be working there. Today he is the general manager at the track.