RACELAND, Ky. — A Worthington, Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to starting the fire that burned down the historic horse track clubhouse in January.

Doyle T. Bonzo III, 32, pleaded guilty to third-degree arson on Thursday in the Commonwealth Circuit Court of Judge Brian C. McCloud. Bonzo was originally charged with first-degree felony arson when he was arrested on Jan. 21.

Instead of jail time, Bonzo was given five years of unsupervised probation and given five years of diversion instead of jail time.

He will also have to pay back restitution for the value of the clubhouse, although a cost of the building was not in court documents.

The fire occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 2, when the Raceland Fire Department, Russell Fire Department and the Flatwoods Fire Department were called to the former track property at Legion Drive and U.S. 23 and found the clubhouse totally engulfed in flames.

One of the property’s owners, Dan Howell, said there was no insurance on the clubhouse because insurance companies are reluctant to insure vacant buildings and the premium is so high that it was not affordable.

Howell said he had been working with the City of Raceland to get a grant to turn the clubhouse into a community center. Part of the property had recently been sold to Southern Ohio Medical Center to build a new medical facility.

The clubhouse was the last building on the Raceland Park horse track that was started in 1924 by John Oliver “Jack” Keene in Chinnville in Greenup County, where the city of Raceland is now.

The track operated from 1924 to 1929. Chinnville changed its name to Raceland for consistency, after the post office changed its name due to the volume of mail for the track.