Since at least the mid-1990s, the City of Daly City has searched for methods to revitalize the Bayshore neighborhood, bisected by Geneva Avenue and dominated, figuratively and literally, by the Cow Palace. Currently, the neighborhood remains without basic amenities, such as a full-service grocery story, bank or even a dry cleaner. Residents must travel to over San Bruno Mountain or to San Francisco, Brisbane and South San Francisco for services and goods.
Completed in early-1941, the Cow Palace hosted two events before the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, the US military used the cavernous buildings mainly for vehicle storage and repair, and returned it to civilian use by 1946. Over the past six-plus decades, the Cow Palace has witnessed societal, political and musical histories. Untold tens of thousands representing three generations have laughed, cried, cheered and jeered in its spaces.
As the years passed, Bay Area cities either constructed new event facilities or significantly upgraded existing properties to accommodate more modern requirements, including tighter seismic standards and access by disabled persons under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
However, the Cow Palace changed very little, and slowly but steadily began to lose the large, profit-generating events to other venues. The Grand National Rodeo, the dog show, the garden show and the Great Dickens Christmas Fair now share the Cow Palace’s schedule with adult-themed events, gun shows, loud private parties and other events that bring traffic, noise, trash and – in some cases – crime to a middle-income residential neighborhood.
While it physically exists within Daly City’s boundaries, the Cow Palace is nearly fiscally non-existent in terms of tax revenues for the city and the county. Meanwhile, the Daly City Police Department often devotes significant resources to staffing an event. The department is reimbursed financially, but the unseen toll is centered on officer moral related to mandated overtime and double-shifts.
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The calendar 2007 deficit of the Cow Palace exceeded $660,000. In fact, for FY2004-2005 through Dec. 31, 2007, the state has subsidized the Cow Palace with more than $1.7 million in general funds. However, given the state’s expected $16 billion shortfall, backfilling the Cow Palace’s budget would mean cutting funds from other state services.
In addition, for the Cow Palace to re-establish itself to be competitive with sites such as the Oracle Arena in Oakland, the HP Pavilion in San Jose or even the San Mateo County Event Center, the Cow Palace would have to at least comply fully with seismic and ADA codes. Costs for just the seismic retrofit is estimated in the $40 million range.
Senator Yee’s bill, supported by the City of Daly City, essentially authorizes the appropriate state agencies to enter into negotiations with the City of Daly City for the city to purchase the entire Cow Palace site at fair market value. If the negotiations prove successful, the Cow Palace site represents a very real opportunity to re-create a community and enhance the lives of families in two counties.
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