What You Can Do
Give $11 to help support the 11 Most Endangered Places.
11 Most Endangered
Santa Anita Racetrack
Year Listed: 2000
Location: Arcadia , California
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Latest News
May 2009: Magna Entertainment, the current owner of the Santa Anita Racetrack, received legal approvals to auction the property in September as part of bankruptcy proceedings. The auction package will include Magna Entertainment's share in the Shops at Santa Anita commercial development project.
Construction threatens the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California. The Santa Anita Racetrack was selected in 2000 for the America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Credit: Los Angeles Conservancy, California
Significance
Opened in 1934, Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California has provided a sweeping setting for famous horse competitions and such golden-era films as "The Story of Seabiscuit" with Shirley Temple. During World War II, it also served as the largest assembly center for Japanese Americans being relocated to internment camps.
Updates
Preservationists first became concerned about the future of the race track in 1999 when the owner erected two large elevator towers on the building façade without project review. Not long after, plans were unveiled to transform the large parking and support areas around the race track into a "Las Vegas-style" and Wild West-themed entertainment center.
The Santa Anita Racetrack was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, but remains threatened by development plans. Although the themed entertainment complex proposal has been dropped, new plans are slated for the parking and support areas adjoining the historic race track and grandstands. In April 2007, the Arcadia City Council approved a plan to develop an 830,000 square foot commercial, retail, and office complex on the south parking area of the racetrack, where barracks once housed thousands of interned Japanese Americans. The project proposes to demolish the 1938 Saddling Barn and South Ticket Gate, and includes plans to insert a simulcast center in the historic grandstand. The Los Angeles Conservancy continues to monitor the project.
Share your memories of this endangered place
Submitted by Chop at: October 29, 2009
I remember being a 12 year old advocate driving around Arcadia on the back of a fire truck shouting "Vote No on Fashion Park". Back then we were opposed to the monstrosity of the mall. We lost the training track along Baldwin Ave where I learned to love the sport. It would be a shame to lose more of this beautiful park. I have pictures of me on my bicycle standing on the seat leaning over the fence and making friends with all the exercise riders. Those riders were laffit Pincay, Fernado Alvarez, Fernando Toro, Rudy Campus, Jerry Lambert. Legends of the sport and Santa Anita. Perhaps an area at the Arboretum might be better suited but leave Santa Anita alone.
Submitted by Anonymous at: May 18, 2009
How many shopping areas do we need in the USA? If we don't preserve our historical sites every city and town will look the same. It is already happening! Americans stop buying STUFF! Preserve our country before it is too late!