Keeneland Spring Meet kicks off Friday with some of the grounds under construction

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- The historic grounds at Keeneland might look a little different to fans as the Spring Meet kicks off Friday.

The track is undergoing its largest construction project yet, a brand new paddock building.

The east gate will be closed and some of the parking closest to the gates will be blocked off as the construction continues. There's no interruptions to the experience once you're inside.

"Once fans get in the gates, everything will be just the same experience any other race day, but your path in will be a little bit different," Kara Heissenbuttel, with Keeneland, said.

Instead of using the east gate fans will be detoured to the Grandstand South Entrance or the North Entrance.

No other parking is impacted and the shuttle will be operating.

"And that walk along the path especially to the North will be so interesting because they'll get to walk through some of the foreign areas and see the behind the scenes of Keeneland which is a unique perspective," Heissenbuttel said.

As for the construction on the new paddock, the three-story building is expected to bring dining experiences and more seating options.

"We're so excited about the growth of Keeneland because the demand for our fans when tickets go on sale, it far exceeds what our capacity is. And so we're excited that we're finally going to be able to accommodate a larger number of fans in," Heissenbuttel said.

The new paddock will provide a new vantage point as well for all fans who go to Keeneland.

"It will be an enhanced saddling experience so they're actually saddling stalls on the first floor of that the saddling paddock, so all of our patrons on the outside will be able to have a better view of the horses when they're saddling up," she said.

Tickets and information about arriving at Keeneland can be found here.