Santa Anita Companies has announced earnings for the year ending December 31, 1981. Revenues were up 23.5%. Shares of the two companies, Santa Anita Operating Company and Santa Anita Realty Enterprises, Inc., are offered on the New York Stock Exchange under the name Santa Anita Realty Enterprises.
Local 280 of the Parimutuel Guild of California voted not to strike Santa Anita Park on opening day. The track had made contingency plans in preparation for the threatened strike but the clerks endorsed the proposed contract raising clerks pay at satellite wagering sites.
Santa Anita Park set a record for total attendance (2,690,834) and had it highest daily average attendance (31,289) since 1948, as the 1981-82 meeting closed April 21. Facts and figures about the racing season are presented.
The Arcadia Planning Commission approved the development of a retail shopping center at the corner of Santa Anita Avenue and Duarte Road. The approval was made after determining that such a project would not cause adverse traffic congestion.
Santa Anita Park will have thoroughbred racing from December 26 through April 22, a season expanded by two weeks. The horse racing bill AB 3383 provided other changes in the sport that will affect Santa Anita Park.
Air conditioning is being installed at the track as part of $3.4 million in improvements being made this summer in preparation for the first season of inter-track wagering offered at Santa Anita Park this year from July 27 to September 14.
Arcadia planning commission has given preliminary approval to a request to operate a residential recovery center for women battling alcoholism. The Spencer Recovery Center would be located at 180 West Huntington Drive.
An application to construct a Burger King Restaurant on South Santa Anita Avenue at Alice Street was turned down by the Arcadia Planning Commission on a 4-1 vote. Commission members said they were concerned with noise and traffic problems. Residents also objected to the possibility that students from Arcadia High would congregate and make noise at the restaurant following evening sporting events.
A $3 million building project to increase stable capacity by 150 stalls is underway at Santa Anita Park. Completion, which is planned before the start of the Oak Tree meeting, will bring the total number of stalls to 2,100. The project is discussed in detail.
Council revises tax for admissions over race track protests. The revisions recommended apply to the existing admissions tax (a tax on other events, entertainment, amusement or competition other than horse racing held on premises with a capacity of 1,000 or more.)
Plans to add a Nordstrom Department Store to Santa Anita Fashion Park received a set-back when the Arcadia Planning Commission voted down a request to reduce the required number of parking spaces at regional shopping centers.
Ray Rogers, vice president and general manager, is celebrating his 25th anniversary with Santa Anita Park. Rogers discusses the past and future of Santa Anita.
The Santa Anita Inn was purchased 2 weeks ago by developer Charles Bluth, who is already implementing plans to turn the hotel at the corner of Huntington Drive and Colorado Place into a four-star inn. Renovation (with a New Orleans motif) should be completed by January.
Plans to build a new Arcadia Senior Center are moving forward, with studies of the center's possible role, funding for the center and scouting for a site under way.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Monday for Santa Anita Medical Plaza, an 86,000 square foot medical office building located on a portion of the Santa Anita Park race track property, across from the Methodist Hospital of Southern California.
Construction of the Arcadia Gateway Center on the south side of Huntington Drive in east Arcadia should begin November 9. The new center will have a Cigna Health Plan Building, 2 office buildings, 2 restaurants, and a retail building with shops.
The L.A. County Board of Suprevisors chose Santa Anita Associates to manage and make roughly $750,000 worth of improvements to the Santa Anita Golf Course. They are expected to renovate and expand the clubhouse and add a new banquet room and cocktail lounge.