Golden Gate Fields, the closed racetrack on the Albany and Berkeley waterfront, faces a key decision on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, when the East Bay Regional Park District's board is expected to formally accept future ownership of the site, KQED reported. The vote is one step in a $175 million plan to turn the former track into a public park.
Under the plan, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land would buy the site for $175 million and then hand it over to the park district. KQED describes the parcel as about 160 acres. According to the park district, the price covers the current owner's removal of every above-ground structure. That owner, the Stronach Group, has held the property since 1999 and ran it as a racetrack until it closed in June 2024.
The money is coming from several sources. Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Friday, September 18, 2026, that sets aside $125 million from the Proposition 4 climate bond for buying the former racetrack, according to the office of State Senator Jesse Arreguín. The park district has committed $20 million from Measure WW, which passed in 2008. The Trust for Public Land is raising the remaining $30 million from private donors and other public sources, KQED reported.
Arreguín's office said the bond money comes with a condition: the land has to be used mainly for parks and open space. The park district adds that the site is not zoned for housing in either Berkeley or Albany.
Votes still ahead
The park board's vote is the first of several steps expected before the end of 2026. Two state bodies are expected to vote on the funding: the California Wildlife Conservation Board in November and the State Coastal Conservancy in December, according to KQED. The Trust for Public Land then has until Tuesday, December 15, 2026, to exercise its option to buy the property, the station reported.
The trust secured that option in February 2026, the park district says, and it must line up the full $175 million to complete the purchase by early 2027. The district expects the property to pass to it by spring 2027. A public planning process would follow from 2027 to 2029, with park development to come in phases after 2029.
A track that once housed more than 1,000 horses
At one time, the track's backstretch housed more than 1,000 horses and hundreds of workers, KQED reported. For Albany, the track meant more than $1 million in special revenue for the city and about $700,000 for its school district, according to the station.
KQED also cited an estimate by animal rights activists that thousands of horses died at Golden Gate Fields over its years of operation. No Thoroughbred or fair racing is set anywhere in Northern California in 2026, according to the California Horse Racing Board's schedule for the year.
What local leaders are saying
Officials toured the closed track on Monday, October 5, 2026, KQED reported. In the station's coverage, Guillermo Rodriguez, the Trust for Public Land's state director, said the place is "so intertwined with so many people's memories," and that it would stay a place to play, only now people could "bet on kids running and not necessarily horses going around a racetrack."
"We're ending the preamble, and now the work begins," Albany Mayor Peggy McQuaid said. Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii said she was "really excited to have it go back to nature, to have this open shoreline, to have beautiful fields," and noted that many people are interested in sports fields there.
When the state funding was signed, Arreguín said in a statement, "For years, our community has fought for a future where Golden Gate Fields belongs to everyone, restoring natural habitats and strengthening coastal resiliency."
How to follow the decision
The park district's board holds regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 1:00 PM, in a hybrid format, according to the district's public meetings page. As of Friday, October 9, 2026, the Golden Gate Fields item had not yet appeared on a posted agenda, so anyone who plans to follow the meeting should check that page for the final agenda.
The park district's project page lays out the funding plan and the timeline for the future park.
See the Golden Gate Fields park plan
From Saved by the Saddle
Saved by the Saddle runs free horsemanship programs for military veterans and at-promise youth at Ocean View Stables in Daly City, and is building R&R: Rescue and Rehab, its horse rescue program. No horse is in its care yet: a vet and farrier on call, a quiet space for a new horse, a written intake standard and funding for a decade or more of care come first.
Sources: KQED, report on Golden Gate Fields becoming a waterfront park (Tuesday, October 6, 2026; updated Wednesday, October 7, 2026); East Bay Regional Park District, Future Golden Gate Fields Park project page (undated, viewed Friday, October 9, 2026); East Bay Regional Park District, public meetings page (viewed Friday, October 9, 2026); Office of State Senator Jesse Arreguín, release on $125 million to acquire Golden Gate Fields (Friday, September 18, 2026); California Horse Racing Board, 2026 racing schedule