By Robert Cheasty

Would you support putting an explosives factory on the Albany waterfront? Or a garbage dump? Or gambling facility? Or a shopping mall plus horse racing track/casino? These first three were actually installed over the past 150 years. The last proposal, the shopping center with race track, is being planned right now.

We can do better -- much better.

If we had it to do over, no one would plan our shoreline the way it was done. Albany, like the rest of the East Bay, encouraged any revenue-producing use, ending up with the explosives factory, a horse track and a dump. Habitat was destroyed and wetlands were filled with municipal waste and construction debris.

Right now, we have that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redo our waterfront decisions. There is strong evidence that Golden Gate Fields will close and move its operations to Dixon. Albany's mayor recently stated he expected the race track to close in the next few years.

We can acquire the land occupied by Golden Gate Fields and use the vast bulk of it as park, open space, playing fields and habitat. The race track sits smack in the middle of the Eastshore State Park. We need to work out a deal with Magna so that a portion of the track lands, say about 15 percent, can be devoted to a modest development so the track owner gets something for its investment, and so the city of Albany and its school district can be made whole for any tax revenues they now receive from the waterfront.

Overwhelming evidence shows horse racing is in steady decline, losing audience and bleeding red ink. The owner of Golden Gate Fields, Toronto-based Magna Entertainment Corp., reports serious losses from its nine race tracks in the United States. Magna shareholders have been in open revolt.

Magna's latest plan to salvage its race tracks: add casino gambling and shopping centers to the tracks here in California (Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields) and in the rest of the country. Recently, Magna threatened to close its track in Maryland, Pimlico, and move it to Florida unless it was allowed to add casino gambling to the horse racing operation.

Plus, Magna is already working on building a track in Dixon to replace Golden Gate Fields. Magna's Dixon track will be built with a shopping center and development. That track will be cheaper to operate, and will add casino gambling as soon as possible.

But Albany voters have a choice about our waterfront.

Albany waterfront zoning does not permit shopping centers and related development. Waterfront casinos and shopping centers can't happen if the voters say no. We need to tell Magna in a clear voice that we want park and open space. We will work with it for replacement development, not casinos/shopping centers plus the race track. We can also work with Magna to buy unused race track parking, using park bonds, for as long as horse racing operations continue.

We can create a stellar shoreline park, recreational opportunities and public access, and reconstruct habitat. We can share a legacy with Carmel -- preserve our shoreline and enhance our Solano and San Pablo shopping districts. When Northern California is built out from here to Nevada, our great grandchildren will thank us for preserving their shoreline.

Or they will look at the expanded race track, casino, shopping mall, plus development, parking and traffic, and wonder why we let a Toronto race track owner, its southern California developer and their local pro-development allies push us into such poor waterfront decisions.

We have the power to remake our waterfront. Developers have the rest of California to build. This is not about having a place to sit with their coffee at the waterfront, as some pro-developers imply. All parks have places to sip coffee (and eat). But they don't have race track/casino/shopping centers.

Pro-developers, such as the recently formed Albany Waterfront Coalition, who claim they like parks, should stop hosting coffees all over Albany showcasing the track's developer. They should join with Citizens for the Albany Shoreline, Citizens for East Shore Parks, Sierra Club, Audubon and the majority of Albany in working for shoreline park.
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Robert Cheasty is president of Citizens for East Shore Parks, chair emeritus of Citizens for the Albany Shoreline and former mayor of Albany.