Examiner's Schwab assails Bay Meadows 'Development' Co.
 

This is progress?
By Dwight Schwab

http://www.examiner.com/x-11780-SF-B...is-is-progress

Just eight months ago, the area was vibrant and clean. The track was paying hefty property taxes and more to the city and county and over 300 workers were feeding their families, living in the community and being a part of society.

Now through sheer greed and stupidity it is all gone. And will this be the poster child for stopping such actions in the future? Will people finally realize enough is enough; that building on every last inch of space is not the answer? Has more tax money (if it ever arrives) made up for all of this?

sad, the same thing is going to happen at hollywood. whoever has the notion
that the project planned for the property where the track now stands will succeed......are out of their minds.

Wait 'til someone gets their mitts on Laurel...

Great article, thanks for that

We had the same thing in New Jersey. Garden State Park was demolished and "developed" into another shopping mall complex...just what Cherry Hill, NJ needed.

Those of you who have been to the South Jersey area know we have no shortage of shopping malls, many of which are empty and not rented. Not that this fact would stop the building of new ones, for some odd reason.

Anyway, I feel for those who mourn Bay Meadows, as we feel that way with GSP gone and ACRC teetering on the edge. While Momouth and Meadowlands are in NJ, they are much further from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.

I attended two proms at Garden State Park while there was night racing.

Thanks for posting this Steve, I don't read the Examiner so this commentary didn't get my attention until you put it up.

About a month or two ago they finally removed the largest pile of mangled steel from the demo site (or maybe they hid it behind the wind-screened fence) - it truly was an eyesore for over six months. There still a massive pile of concrete rubble and the area still has the look of a war zone. The only consolation that I take from this whole situation is that the greedy bastards that tore it down so they could make money from the land are making nothing.

It still hurts when I drive past this place, the track had such wonderful historic value - society doesn't always benefit when we tear down to past to build the future. My sympathies to any of you that have/had this happen to your local track.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The strange thing was that when Atlantic City got casino gambling, and then the drinking age in NJ was raised to 21. Since the casinos served free drinks, they didn't let anybody in unless you were 21. But you could still legally gamble at 18 at the horse races and by playing the lottery.

It was an advantage, and probably still is, for the racetrack if they could successfully market to the 18-21 year old crowd. And as Steve mentions on the air, for $20 you could have something on every race on the card...cheap night out.

Amazing that folks in SF allowed this wonderful legendary instution of racing(lol) and there 5 horse fields and crappy purses, to be demolished by greedy business people.

Sometimes I wonder what the heck people are thinking.Do you all think that the Bay Meadows product was terriffic and was generating tons of money for its owner? Seriously think about it. IF Bay Meadows was such a great business would any of this have happened? It's a shame that this has happened and its speaks volumes about how insane polictics can be but let's not lose sight that the reason Bay Meadows is no more is because there product sucked. Save all the 1960's nostalgia for a coffee table book as long as I can remember Bay Meadows was an unplayable haven of 5 horse fields and Russel Bazes winning 3 to 5 races a day on odds on horses. It was hardly MUST SEE TV?

Freddy, honestly... Bay Meadows was indeed an institution; a legendary and historic facility responsible for many innovations and famous moments in racing, as well as a San Fransisco landmark. I'm reminded of Saul Steinberg's famed NYers' view of the world...

Roosevelt Raceway highlights why demolishing tracks and building certainly is not always a good thing. Today where it used to stand are a bunch of stores that just duplicate the bunch of stores within a few miles of the area, a mall about a mile away from one of the biggest malls on long island that is headlined by a company (Fortunoff) which has gone out of business and has nothing you really can't get at the Roosevelt Field Mall or locally, and a housing project which sits empty 20 years after the destruction due to the greed of its developers. It has also had the effect of bringing more traffic to an area which the last thing the area needs is more traffic.

The author of the article makes a lot of sense, just because the land is there doesn't mean that one has to put up commercial businesses, housing and a park. Who needs another park anyway?

Yeah Steve they invented stuff at Bay Meadows that greatly helped the game..We all know about the photo finish camera etc. terriffic. Can you at least recognize the Bay Meadows was a failing business? Can you at least represent that the last 15 years of racing there was VERY below average. Can you speak to the crappy attendance and low handle because the product sucked.


I live near Freehold Raceway.. I remember when Niatross was there for the Dancer and they had 20k in attendance. Does this mean the place should stay opened for racing? There are 500 people there sometimes the place is devoid of patrons.. So because Freehold was an immensely important Standardbred track the owners are obligated to operate? Get Real, Wake Up the world changes and most importantly understand that nobody sells horses that make them tons of money to the kill pen for .30 a pound. And nobody demolishes thriving business because they can't stand the success. Bay Meadows is no more because the product didn't cut it, regardless of there 1934 starting gate implementation or Seabiscuit's great runs. Who the Fcuk cares that they invented the Daily Double there in 1947. They had 5 horse fields with 2 horses that could win for years.

I understood the progress and change aspect of this when the BMDC foreshadowed the closing. That was one thing... But the way things have turned out is quite another. The core point of Schwab's piece is that the track operating was preferable to what they have now. And there is no argument to be made against his rationale. The employment and tax generation for the community should simply be shrugged off? If the development project languishes for another 5 years, what then? Why was it so urgent to level the facility? And the same thing is going to happen in Inglewood.

California has NO horses so why do you need so many tracks? I realize people will lose jobs and traditions will be silienced but it is because there isn't the racing stock to fill races at so many tracks. Too much capacity requires either selling more to fill it or cutting back. It really isn't very complicated, its just disheartening.

Bay Meadows wasn't making money because it's product was horrible. The BS that subsquently happened is not what racing needs to focus on and "we" are in no position to be pissed. IF the product/industry had its act together none of the rubble would be there.

Most likely the economy had a bunch to do with the development issues.. Hopefully those are short term.. I love racing not malls but I certainly get that 5 horse fields on prime real estate isnt a good business model and so should you. Perhap if you took a stance that begged for fewer tracks and fewer dates racing could start to build a strong foundation.Then racing might have a chance to thrive. Instead you focus on rubble from a track that hadn't had a successful meet in years, save Art Sherman and Russell Baze's prospective.

You have a galling predilection for putting words into my mouth. I'm not focusing on the rubble. I brought the piece to people's attention because the Hollywood Park situation involving the same management group is in its' critical stages. Like Bay Meadows, Hollywood doesn't need to be razed.

The scenario in California is complex because of the tremendous infighting that has gone on with the CTBA and TOC, et al. As I've said before, I appreciate the positives fewer racing dates and venues could afford the game. You seem to love throwing the rocks but have no viable plan to implement.

Oh... and I doubt you realize that your approach to things would have resulted in the abandonment of racing at Saratoga in the '60's when the meet was a money loser and viewed as a drain on resources by almost everyone involved in New York racing. At which point the track would most likely have been sold to developers and leveled for 'progress' since the track lost money and hadn't run a successful meet in years. Whoops...

You clearly spoke out on the subject yesterday. You voiced your strong distain for the track coming down and the subsequent mess. Never did you suggest the Bay Meadows meet was horrendous and that failure to promote and develop a quality business model and product was the SOLE reason for its demise. Your depiction that you were simply bringing the article to your audience attention is funny. It sounded like your blood pressure was through the roof..lol

Closing Hollywood could have a beneficial effect on the complicated mess in Ca. It cant hurt..As for not having a plan..I think meets need to consolidate period. If friggin Turfway can't stand on its own merit CLOSE IT same for Ellis.. The owners horseman and horses will find there way to another track. That should help make the fields larger and more appealing to the people who bet and fund this game. And then once it consolidates it can become healthy for all.


As for the crystal ball monday morning QB'ing about SPA. Are you suggesting that it wasnt a prudent idea to abandon it in the 60's because you knew it was going to be what it is today, or are you suggesting circumstance and perhaps the special attention that the Whitneys and others gave it drove it to it's pinnacle. Maybe we can get Ms and Ms Whitney to talk up Turfway...lol

The Roosevelt Raceway thing was criminal. A few "horseman" got the town to issue tax free bonds to buy the place with the pledge to keep it as a racetrack. But almost as soon as they took control they began cutting costs and staff and made it as unprofitable as they could to cover their tracks in order to declare it too unprofitable to continue and sell to developers for a lot more than they purchased it for. It was tied up in court for years but in the end they made out like bandits.

Ahem....there, their, they're

It's killing me. My blood pressure is rising from reading this thread.

I brought up the Schwab piece on air for the same reason: it is directly tied to possible eventualities in Inglewood. And I maintain that an open Bay Meadows beats what you have there right now...

Hollywood Park has been a constant in its' environs for 7+ decades and a vitally important economic bastion to the Inglewood community. I won't go on because you'll simply insert a throwaway punchline about Inglewood here without any real interest or comprehension of what its' destruction will bring to the area.

As for Saratoga, it was forward-thinking Averill Harriman that ensured the perpetuation of the Race Course, not the dribblecup doyen. Not acknowledging the parallels between your consolidation plan and the potential steamrolling of Saratoga in the mid-60's wraps up this interesting conversation for now. I have some work to do before the show...

Funny, I have 4 horses there.