Magna shows new track plans

Magna Entertainment Corp. presented an updated proposal for its planned $250 million Dixon Downs racetrack and entertainment complex in a public meeting Saturday in the small community of Dixon, Calif., 20 miles west of Sacramento.

The project would include shops, restaurants, a hotel, and a combination racetrack grandstand and concert hall. The track itself would be 1 1/8 miles in circumference with a one-mile inner turf course and barns for 1,400 horses.

Magna first approached Dixon, a city of 16,000, with the idea of building a track there in 1999. In 2002, Magna purchased 260 acres in the area. The meeting Saturday was the fifth in a series of meetings with the community, and it attracted 200 residents.

The project requires approval by the city council, which is expected to vote on the proposal by the end of the summer.

Magna owns Golden Gate Fields in Albany. The company's lease at Bay Meadows was not renewed this year.