NFL PING
FReepmail scott says to be added to, or to be taken off the NFL Ping list...
This is a fairly high volume ping list
Posted on 11/09/2006 7:41:20 AM PST by SmithL
The 49ers broke off negotiations with San Francisco city officials aimed at securing a new stadium at Candlestick Point and hope to build a home for the team in Santa Clara, MediaNews has learned.
Team owner John York informed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom of the team's decision Wednesday.
The 49ers' decision could have a substantial impact on the San Francisco's bid for the 2016 Olympics, of which the stadium was to play a key part.
"We're going to have to make some assessments," said Peter Ragone, a spokesman for Newsom.
York said in a statement that after a year of study, it was determined that the site adjacent to the current Monster Park would have difficulty supporting plans for a new park and residential development because of a lack of infrastructure and the additional costs it would take to provide them.
In addition, the complicated approval process would have threatened the team's goal of having the new stadium in place in time for the 2012 season.
"We hired the best experts and advisors in the business and worked tirelessly ... to move forward with this project at Candlestick Point," York's statement said. "I want to commend Mayor Newsom and his staff and Lennar (Corporation) for their support and determination over the past year in this enormous undertaking. This decision is not a reflection of their efforts, but rather the geographic challenges of this site."
Santa Clara, which has been the home of the team's administrative headquarters and practice facility since 1987, is expected to be designated as the 49ers' preferred site for a new stadium at a news conference this morning.
Said Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan: "For Santa Clara this is great news. This is huge for our region. We will be taking seriously anything they bring to the table."
Trying to quash speculation of a potential move elsewhere in California, York said that if plans to build a stadium in Santa Clara fall through, the team's search for a stadium site will remain exclusively in the Bay area.
"The 49ers have called the Bay Area home for our entire 60-year history," York said. "We are a part of the fabric of this region, and we intend to stay right here where we belong."
The team owner added that despite the potential relocation to Santa Clara, no consideration is being given to changing the team's geographical identity.
"Nothing will persuade us to change the name of the San Francisco 49ers, one of the most storied brands in the world of sports," York said.
Back in July, the 49ers unveiled a tentative design for a new stadium to be built on the vacant bay front land next to the 46-year-old Monster Park, the NFL's oldest facility.
Cost estimates ranged from $600 million to $800 million.
At the time of the announcement, 49ers vice president Lisa Lang said all of the team's efforts were being concentrated on making the San Francisco site work. But she acknowledged the parking lot across the street from the 49ers' Santa Clara headquarters had been selected as a backup site should the plans for Candlestick Point project fall through.
The matter came to head recently, the team said, when engineers determined that hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements were required to accommodate the Candlestick Point project, possibly exceeding the cost of the proposed $600 to $800 million stadium.
Conditions for fans would have been rendered untenable by the demolition of Monster Park and the long-term construction of the mixed-use development.
Candlestick Point, in San Francisco? The jokes just write themselves.
Pelosi's fault.
A feature of th new design in keeping with the people of the bay area. The teams no longer will come out of the lockerroom at the start of a game, the will come out of the closet instead. ;)
Yea, a new stadium is the least of their problems.
SF a terrible city - no it is not.
I will agree Marin IS nice; but SF (we live in the outer Sunset) is most often sunny and 65 degrees about 80% of the year, that is hardly cold. But I do agree, 80 is better.
Agreed, for whatever I may feel about the politicians in SF. The city itself is one of the most fascinating cities we have in the nation.
1) There is plentiful space for the stadium AND parking lots at the Santa Clara location.
2) The stadium will have a Santa Clara VTA light rail station right next to it, which means it's easily reachable from almost anybody with acces to Santa Clara County's light rail system. It should be noted the light rail line from the stadium site goes directly west into Mountain View, where you can connect with Caltrain commuter rail up to San Francisco.
"San Francisco's bid for the 2016 Olympics". Is that the gay olympics? It is amazing that a group can have its own Olympics based on sexual preference and it is not a problem, but if there were ever a "straight Olympics", there would be demonstrations in the streets, lawsuits, the ACLU....
I too like West Marin, we went up to Healdsburg for the weekend and came back down by Bodega Bay and West Marin. Beautiful out there.
It would be nice if they could build out a BART extension to the new stadium. I'm headed to the Black Hole in Oakland this Sunday (to root for Denver) and having a BART stop at that stadium makes it so easy coming from Pleasant Hill.
I love West Marin and the Sonoma coast..it really is absolutely beautiful. Marin and the North Bay in general have really "boomed" in the past 15 years...for the worse. Its nice to get out in the country and enjoy the peace and quiet....
Moving a football team from the downtown area to a location with a logistical clean slate for infrastructure and lots more space makes sense. Miami, New England, and others have done it.
Santa Clara is still close enough to San Fran that it shouldn't be too big of a deal for the fans. Not having to deal with Bay area traffic could actually be a plus.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.