What is the price of history?

There is Seven Oaks, the modest Tudor-style house once owned by Bank of America founder A.P. Giannini, that is facing demolition at the hands of the estate of Giannini's daughter. There is the grand house at 811 Laurel Ave. built in 1907 but was split into four apartment units. It is slated for demolition to make way for new apartments. There is the Palm Theater, ready to show its last adult movie so apartments can be built.

The granddaddy of them all is the 83-acre Bay Meadows race track, built in 1934 to host such great horses as Seabiscuit in a time when racing was king. Now Bay Meadows is facing demolition to make way for housing, retail and office space.

The Palm Theater is up for a final decision today and will likely be demolished within months. The verdict is still out on the Laurel Avenue property. All four properties have issues with maintenance and the Laurel Avenue house and Bay Meadows have been modified to the point where their historical integrity may be compromised. Yet the city is suing the Giannini estate to preserve the house at 20 El Cerrito Ave. while marching steadily toward the demolition of Bay Meadows. Why the difference?

There are two factors involved. The value of the replacement and the history of the property. At Bay Meadows, developers envision a 15-acre park system, 1,250 residential units, 1.25 million square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet of retail space that will rival Burlingame Avenue. The development would bring tremendous revenue to the city and would help create a "transit village" that planners say is necessary to help battle the area's traffic and housing woes. With the Palm Theater, the city can get rid of a theater that shows pornography in a residential neighborhood while getting a 19-unit apartment building in its place.

At Laurel Avenue, the property owner is planning a 12-unit, four-story apartment complex, which is also a net gain in housing units. Demolishing the Giannini House, however, would not gain much since the San Mateo Park neighborhood it is in is strictly zoned for single-family homes.

When it comes to the historical integrity of the structure, city planners point to the obvious. The Giannini house is on the state's registry of historic properties and the Laurel Avenue house is listed on the city's registry. The Palm Theater and Bay Meadows are not.

Over the years, the Bay Meadows grandstand has undergone extensive modifications, said Mitch Postel, executive director of the San Mateo County Historical Society.

"From a historical standpoint, it is a legacy of San Mateo. What makes it historical? Is it the building? No, because it's been changed so much ... It's the institution that makes it unique," Postel said.

For Councilwoman Sue Lempert, Bay Meadows is a shell of what it once was and there is no doubt that it should be demolished. In her eyes, the modified grandstand is merely one indication of the track's ungraceful aging; the atmosphere and the very business that goes on at Bay Meadows has been compromised.

In recent years, purses at Bay Meadows have gotten smaller and smaller and it is no longer a prestigious track. In fact, its main business is off-track betting and most track visitors are older and very poor, she said.

"It's not a very glamorous place. It's not what you see in the movies," she said. "What people want to preserve hasn't been happening for a very long time."

For Lempert, those that want to preserve Bay Meadows are living in a fantasy world.

"People love the idea that Seabiscuit raced there. Seabiscuit was wonderful, but Seabiscuit doesn't run there anymore, it's not even Seabiscuit two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight," she said. "If Seabiscuit was running there, I'd want to preserve that. But Seabiscuit nor his relatives ain't running there anymore."

Some wanting to preserve Bay Meadows take issue with Lempert's stance. Donna Bischoff, the leader of Save Bay Meadows, said the track has a wealth of history that should be preserved. For Bischoff, the effort to save the Giannini house while not saving Bay Meadows drips with irony.

"It is interesting what they decide has historical value," she said.

However, the modifications to Bay Meadows over the years makes its chances of having it placed on the National Registry of Historical Places a "long shot," Postel said.

On the other hand, Postel points to Giannini's contributions to society as reason to save Seven Oaks.

"Clearly it is a residence that belonged to someone with national and international prominence. ... It is the most important preservation issue on the Peninsula right now if not the Bay Area and beyond," Postel said. "It has to be on the front burner for anyone interested in history."

Bischoff believes Bay Meadows deserves front burner status as well. In her eyes, the city has not been diligent in its effort to gauge the historical value of the track.

"I doubt they've trooped down there en mass to look at the art deco dining room," she said, referring to a recent field trip officials took to inspect the house on Laurel Avenue.

William Kyne, the track's founder, contributed much to horse racing and his legacy should be factored in as well. Besides, Bischoff said, all historic structures have gone through modifications. Two examples are the state's missions and the Winchester Mystery House, perhaps the epitome of modifications, she said.

However, Bischoff said it comes down to political power and money. The lure of new tax dollars is just too much for officials, she said.

"It's very evident that [the city] will save something historic if it doesn't require a sacrifice for the city," she said. "It gets to be very discouraging."

In an ideal world, Postel said the historical society would like to see Bay Meadows preserved, but admitted it is now a question of community values.

"What exactly makes it history? The whole community has to argue that out. It's an issue of what the community really wants. It's a huge chunk of property and there are financial ramifications. Much more has to go into the thinking," he said.

Jon Mays can be reached by e-mail at jon@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 107. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.