Where once there were horses, there’s now just rubble.

Demolition crews began razing outbuildings at North Toledo’s Raceway Park on Tuesday, the final step to an end that’s been a long time coming.

Once among Toledo’s most popular entertainment sites, it’s been more than a year and a half since the last horses thundered around the 5/​8-mile oval. On Tuesday, the dirt track was rutted and muddy enough that David Bruhl had to put his Ford pickup in four-wheel drive to crawl through the muck.

Mr. Bruhl, demolition project manager for Midwest Environmental Inc., said his crew will spend the next six to eight weeks tearing down the old stables, offices, and grandstands and clearing the property of cinder block and steel.

Clearing the old buildings should make the property more attractive to potential buyers and expedite redevelopment, said Ken Marciniak, a commercial real estate agent with Signature Associates.

“It really didn’t make much sense leaving the main grandstand area standing,” Mr. Marciniak said. “All of the supporting buildings were really in poor condition anyway and would not have had much value and use.”

Signature has the 97-acre site listed at $3 million. Mr. Marciniak said there is interest.

Toledo Raceway Park opened in 1949 as a stock car track, but by the late 1950s had transitioned to horse racing — first thoroughbreds, then harness racing.

Established and run for years by the Jechura family, the track had changed hands a couple of times since the late 1980s before it was purchased by Penn National Gaming Inc. in 2005.

Penn National, which is based in Pennsylvania, ran the track for nearly a decade before seeking and receiving state approval in 2012 to move the track’s permit to Dayton to avoid cannibalizing customers from its new Hollywood Casino Toledo.

The last race was in September, 2013. Though the track was still loved by many, its heyday had long since passed. Still, its demolition is difficult for those who fondly remember what it once was.

“I think Toledo lost, at this point, a landmark,” said Tom Sorosiak. “I don’t know what’s going to become of the property ... but it served the community for 60 years. It served it really, really well.”

Mr. Sorosiak’s mother was a cousin of Sylvester “Shake” Jechura, the longtime owner, and Mr. Sorosiak started working at the track when he was 13 years old. A visit to the site Tuesday brought back memories.

“I don’t know if all good things come to an end, but certainly my feelings were one of a lot of good memories there,” he said.

Bob Tenenbaum, a Columbus-based spokesman for Penn National, said the company decided to sell the property once the state OK’d moving the permit to Dayton.

“We couldn’t sell it to anybody who wanted to operate a race track because they couldn’t get a license,” Mr. Tenenbaum said. “There are basically four harness licenses and three thoroughbred in the state. That number hasn’t increased in many years.”

Since the track closed, Penn National has sold off some equipment and moved other items to the company’s other tracks. Mr. Tenenbaum said the company didn’t get any requests for memorabilia from the track.

The site’s future is unknown. Mr. Marciniak said he’s fielded inquiries from a number of parties with different ideas, though he thinks a combination of retail and other uses is likely the best fit. He said there was interest from people who were considering returning the site to auto racing, but those plans proved too costly.

Still, Mr. Marciniak believes the site can be sold, even as another large vacant tract of land — the site of the former North Towne Square Mall — sits nearby.

“We’re really positive and upbeat on the property because it has so much street presence and frontage. We have frontage on Telegraph, frontage on Detroit Avenue, and frontage on Alexis.”

An idea to convert the site to a multifield soccer and lacrosse tournament site was pitched but seems to be off the table.

“I think it’s kind of run its course,” said Richard Parish, Toledo Area Soccer Association president and the man behind the idea. “As of right now, we’re done with it.”

Mr. Marciniak said there’s at least one potential buyer who has visited the site multiple times and remains interested.

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134 or on Twitter @BladeAutoWriter.

First Published March 25, 2015, 4:00 a.m.