From the Thoroughbred Times:
Magna Entertainment Corp., which previously had considered relocating its Oregon racing operation from Portland Meadows, has renewed its commitment to the racetrack and is in the process of investing $2.5-million in the property.
Even though Magna, which also owns Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village, Oregon, discussed moving racing from Portland Meadows following a number of environmental issues with the site, Magna President Jeff Grady told the Portland Tribune that racing would stay at the track for the long term.
Read the rest of the article here.
And from the Portland Tribune's story:
Area’s future in flux
Potential development plans for the speedway property, as well as for Portland Meadows horse racing track, have been discussed for years. Toronto-based Magna Entertainment Corp. originally subleased operating rights to Portland Meadows from developer Tom Moyer, which gave the Portland developer time to rezone and design plans for the site.
The 20-acre Portland Meadows site would have become a mall under a plan promoted as recently as two years ago by Moyer. When the racetrack’s co-owners and city objected to the zoning change, Moyer sold the operating rights to Magna. The site, which is partially zoned commercial, has been a racetrack since 1947.
Moyer, who founded TMT Development Co., developed the Fox Tower downtown.
Magna, which also manages Multnomah Greyhound Park, had plans to move the horse racing operation to another location but has since reconsidered.
Magna President Jeff Grady now says horse racing will stay at Portland Meadows for the long term, and Magna is in the process of a $2.5 million cleanup of the property. The federal Environmental Protection Agency had fined the company for problems with its waste disposal system, which drained into the Columbia Slough.
“I’m not sure what they will move in there, but it would be nice if they brought some more business to this area of town,” Grady says.
John Southgate, project manager at the Portland Development Commission, says the Hayden Meadows area doesn’t have a long-term development plan.
“We had some conversations with Tom Moyer and some of the neighbors, but those were a couple years ago and they didn’t advance very far,” Southgate says. “We never even drafted a plan.”
Southgate says the PDC has put much of its energy in North Portland into helping develop the areas around the Interstate MAX stations. PDC officials, as with the general public, are not aware of any future plans for the speedway.
Read the entire Portland Tribune story here.
Posted by Oregon Racing News at June 17, 2004 09:09 AM