|
|
 |
|
|
|
 The San Francisco 49ers announced on November 8, 2006 that the team is shifting the focus of its efforts to build a new stadium from the City of San Francisco to the City of Santa Clara, where the team currently has its headquarters and training facility. The announcement comes after a year of study by the team, its development partner, Lennar Corporation, and San Francisco officials to determine if Candlestick Point could support a new state-of-the-art NFL stadium and an adjacent major mixed-use development that would have played a key role in helping to privately finance the project. After careful deliberation, the team came to the conclusion that the project would not have offered the optimal game day experience it is seeking to create for fans, and has therefore decided not to move forward with the public approval process at Candlestick Point. The decision stemmed from the incompatible land requirements of the stadium and mixed-use development at the site. The project would have created massive new infrastructure and public transit needs, and the size of the development would take up much of the space fans currently use for parking and tailgating, requiring the construction of one of the largest parking garages in the world. Additionally, the complexity of the approval process placed the team’s goal of opening the new stadium in time for the 2012 NFL season in jeopardy. As a result of the decision, the team will now concentrate its efforts on evaluating a new stadium in Santa Clara, near the Great America amusement park and the Santa Clara Convention Center. The location is served by several six-to-eight-lane thoroughfares built to accommodate high traffic volumes, which would offer easy access to fans from multiple freeways that connect throughout the Bay Area. The team will not consider changing its name under any circumstances. Next, the team will meet with officials in Santa Clara to develop a set of shared goals for exploring the project, and begin discussions. “We’re proud to have the San Francisco 49ers as part of our community,” said Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan. “We have been looking to expand our entertainment options in the Great America/Convention Center area for years, and this stadium can be a great addition. The 49ers have been clear that their goal is to put together a project that has no impact on the City’s general fund and no increase in taxes, and we are ready to give this project our full attention,” she added. The announcement is the culmination of the second attempt by the 49ers to develop a stadium project at Candlestick Point, the location of its current stadium, Candlestick Park. The team first partnered with retail developer Mills Corporation in 1997 to explore the potential of a stadium project linked to an adjacent shopping mall, but Mills was unable to create a feasible plan. The team then partnered with Lennar in 2005 to take a fresh look at the project, resulting in a mixed-use development concept. While Candlestick Point is visually appealing, its geographic boundaries made it challenging for this proposed project. Candlestick Point is surrounded by the San Francisco Bay on three sides, with a large hill near the area’s only highway that seals much of the land off from the rest of the City. The area also has limited and deteriorating road access that would have been overwhelmed by the stadium and the planned mixed-use development, which featured 6,500 new housing units. Engineers determined that hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements were required to accommodate the project, possibly exceeding the cost of the proposed $600 to $800 million stadium. Owner John York said that while the team has done some preliminary evaluation in Santa Clara, there is a lot of work to be done to determine if the site will work for a new stadium. He added that the team will continue to use the design of the interior of the stadium that it shared with the public earlier this summer, and that it is committed to its goal of constructing a new state-of-the-art stadium for its fans by the start of the 2012 NFL season. If the 49ers are unable to move forward with the project in Santa Clara, the team plans to continue its search for a location for a new stadium exclusively within the Bay Area. “The 49ers have called the Bay Area home for our entire 60 year history. We are a part of the fabric of this region, and we intend to stay right here where we belong,” concluded York. |
||
|
Facts and Figures |
Latest News |
Pictures |
|
-Name: 49ers Stadium -Location: Santa Clara, CA -Tenant: San Francisco 49ers |
-49ers
Shift Focus of New Stadium Effort to City of Santa Clara -Letter to 49ers Faithful from Denise and John York |
|
Copyright © 2001
-
Stadiums of the NFL
is not associated with the National Football League or any team mentioned.
Contact Us with any problems or
errors on this page. This page may not be reproduced without permission from Stadiums of the NFL.
Stadium Network:
ballparksofbaseball.com
|
stadiumsofnfl.com |
collegegridirons.com |
insidearenas.com |
stadiumtravelguide.com