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The former racing track for greyhound dogs that operated in South Tucson for 72 years is being redeveloped into a youth soccer training academy.

An affiliate of the professional German soccer league team Borussia Dortmund has leased the 16-acre former Tucson Greyhound Park at 2601 E. Third Ave.

BVB International Academy Arizona has been quietly operating its training academy for young soccer players at the Kino Sports Complex with the hopes of having its own facility in Tucson, said Armando Ramirez, the organization’s executive director.

The availability of the racing track appealed to him.

β€œI saw an opportunity to bring in something positive into the community,” Ramirez said.

Left: The BVBIA Arizona soccer training academy hopes to start construction on three soccer fields this summer. Right: BVBIA Arizona hopes to eventually add some retail and sleeping quarters to the former Tucson Greyhound Park site for traveling players and their family.

His German colleagues visited the facility after a fire broke out in 2024.

β€œI showed them around the day after the building had burned down,” Ramirez said. β€œThey told me their facility in Germany was built at the site of a fire.

β€œMaybe it was a good sign?”

BVBIA Arizona hopes to eventually add some retail and sleeping quarters to the former Tucson Greyhound Park site for traveling players and their family.

Immediate plans for the project are three outdoor soccer fields, followed by an indoor field and possibly overnight rooms for parents who accompany their kids to the academy.

BVB will train soccer players ages 9 through 17.

β€œThey focus on development of players,” Ramirez said. β€œSome of the best soccer players in the world were developed by Borussia Dortmund.”

An affiliate of the professional German soccer league Borussia Dortmund has leased the 16-acre former greyhound racing site in South Tucson.

The academy’s guiding principle is to build kids up.

β€œWe create dynamic training sessions so they can have fun,” Ramirez said. β€œWe don’t operate with punishments such as, β€˜Give me 20 pushups.’”

He said a name for the Tucson academy is being discussed with a possible nod to the greyhounds that once raced there. Branding rights are also being explored.

Ramirez hopes to break ground on the outdoor fields this summer with completion before the end of the year.

Tucson Greyhound Park opened in 1944 and operated until 2016. Attendance began to fall off with the arrival of tribal casinos in 1994 as regular patrons headed to the slots.

It was the last live greyhound-racing track left in Arizona when the state legislature and governor signed bills to end dog racing.

After that, it operated as an off-track betting site before it closed in the summer of 2022, then was purchased by investors Equilibrium Cordova Village LLC.

South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela said she’s eager to see that property revived.

β€œIt really does break my heart to see it sitting vacant,” she said, adding that she hopes it will get more young people in South Tucson involved in the sport.

The burned out shell of Tucson Greyhound Park collapses over the racing oval, South Tucson, on April 11.

β€œWe’re hopeful it will be more than a recreation spot,” Valenzuela said. β€œMaybe a place that will play a preventative role in stopping our youth from going down a wrong path.”

On the northeast corner of the property, near the railroad tracks, there is a drainage site that needs to be remediated for the whole project to move forward, said Josue Licea, planning director for South Tucson.

He said the city is working with Pima County on a solution.

The twisted satellite tower and the wreckage of a burned out shell on the south end of what was Tucson Greyhound Park.

β€œOnce that’s in place, we’ll issue the permits locally,” Licea said. β€œIt’s been a long time since we’ve seen something of this magnitude.”

His hope is that other vacant sites near the old racing track will attract development, such as complementary retail on ground floors with housing units above.

β€œWe’re all super excited,” Licea said. β€œWe’re looking forward to some change.”

Visit www.bvbinternationalacademy.com to learn more about the project.

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Contact reporter Gabriela Rico

at grico@tucson.com