Tag Archives: Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields: Energy, emotions and lots of stories
Kaia Diringer has worked as Berkeleyside’s photo intern for the past four months. One of her last assignments, which she chose herself, was to shoot at the Golden Gate Fields racetrack on the Berkeley-Albany border. Here, she writes about her impressions of the track, which she visited several times over the course of a few weeks:
I noticed the exit sign for Golden Gate Fields Racetrack the first time I drove down I-80 last fall and I was immediately curious. Horse racing didn’t really seem like a Berkeley thing to me. I grew up going to tracks like Laurel Park in Maryland — places that were rural or seemingly out of the way. But here was this racetrack, in a city on the bay, and so conveniently located.
Living off Gilman, I was always driving past it, but it always seemed distant in some way, hard to see in, and even harder to imagine all that was going on inside.
I finally made it to Golden Gate Fields last month, having arranged to take photos that I hoped to share with Berkeleyside readers who may have been as intrigued as me. … Continue reading »
Berkeley sites for Lab’s second campus in the spotlight
As the Berkeley Lab rolls into town this week to hold three public meetings about a second campus, there has been a lot of speculation about which community will be the best cheerleader. The bar has already been set high: Richmond had drummers and dancers perform at its meeting, Oakland put forward its mayor, and Alameda had a packed house.
But a curious thing happened in each community meeting. Instead of the cities wooing the Lab, the Lab … Continue reading »
Three Berkeley sites being considered for Lawrence Berkeley Lab second campus
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has selected six sites in six East Bay cities as the possible location of a second campus, Berkeleyside has learned.
Three of the six sites are either in Berkeley or partly in Berkeley, according to knowledgeable sources who asked not to be named. They are:
- The Richmond Field Station. The University of California already owns this land, and it is presumed to be the front runner for the second campus.
- Golden Gate Fields — This 30-acre parcel sits mainly in Albany, although a section also sits in Berkeley.
- The Goldin brothers/Jones family parcel off of Bolivar Drive near Aquatic Park in Berkeley. This 12.5 acre parcel is the site of the old American Soils property.
- A 64 acre parcel known as the Brooklyn Basin along Oakland’s waterfront.
- A portion of the old Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda. The city has offered this land for free to the lab as a way to quick-start development of the old base.
- Wareham Development’s sites straddling Berkeley and Emeryville.
The lab received 21 proposals from eight cities interested in having the second campus. They included multiple sites in Berkeley, including the old Marchant Building, about four proposals in Oakland, one in Walnut Creek, one in Dublin, and a number in Richmond. … Continue reading »
Fourth Berkeley site proposed for LBL second campus
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory received a fourth Berkeley proposal for a new campus – the old Marchant Building on San Pablo Avenue near Ashby Avenue.
Redico, a Michigan-based real-estate development company, suggested to the lab that the 540,000 square foot building on a 6.5 acre plot of land become its new second campus, according to a knowledgeable source who asked not to be named.
The Marchant Building, which was used by the University of California as a storage facility for 28 years, straddles Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland. The university vacated the building in 2010 and Redico has been promoting it since then as prime R&D and office space for the East Bay Green Corridor. … Continue reading »
Made in Berkeley: Shadow of the Thin Man
Shooting a movie on location simply wasn’t necessary during Hollywood’s Golden Age—the period from the late 1920s through late 1950s when the studio system was firmly in control of American film production. Whether a film was set in the back alleys of Old Shanghai, the drawing rooms of modern-day London, or the dachas of Imperial Russia, there was a set on the back-lot—or at worst a location a few hours drive away—that could fill in and provide a reasonable facsimile … Continue reading »
Have your say on the future of the Albany waterfront
Neighboring Albany is engaged in a comprehensive public process to look at the future of its waterfront, called Voices to Vision. Next Tuesday night, the program is looking for the views of non-Albany residents. Since the Eastshore State Park runs through Berkeley and Albany, and part of the land on which the troubled Golden Gate Fields sits is part of Berkeley, Berkeley residents should be interested in expressing their views.
There’s an excellent summary of the history … Continue reading »
Golden Gate Fields to stay — for now
Following our story yesterday on the uncertain future of Golden Gate Fields, northern California’s last horse-racing track, located on the Berkeley-Albany border, the Oakland Tribune reports today that all will remain as is — at least for now — following a proposed bankruptcy settlement struck by the track’s owner.
Albany Mayor Joanne Wile said: ”We will have an ongoing stream of revenue … Continue reading »
The horses are racing at Golden Gate Fields but the future is uncertain
The 2010 horse-racing season began in late December at Golden Gate Fields, with the next significant live race scheduled for Martin Luther King Day.
But horse-racing lovers really have their eyes posted on Feb. 25, the day Magna Entertainment Group plans to auction off Golden Gate Fields to reduce its debt and help it out of bankruptcy.
As the last remaining horse track in northern California, the 130-acre Golden Gate Fields, with its prime location on the edge … Continue reading »
