49ers Stadium
San
Francisco, CA
Every fall since 1946, fans in San
Francisco have been able to go see the 49ers in action from their days
playing at Kezar Stadium to today at Candlestick Park. Since 1971
the 49ers have called Candlestick Park their home. Today, the 49ers home is
the oldest stadium in the NFL that has not been substantially renovated.
Candlestick Park lacks many modern amenities found in new stadiums around
the league including club and luxury seats that generate large sums of
revenue for teams. Since 1997, the San Francisco 49ers have worked to build
a new stadium for the team. Voters in San Francisco approved a $100 million
measure in 1997 to build a new stadium and shopping complex adjacent to
Candlestick Park. This project seemed that it would come to fruition as the
NFL awarded San Francisco Super Bowl XXXVII. However, plans fell through for
construction and the Super Bowl was awarded to San Diego.
Nearly a decade passed before another serious plan to build a
stadium for the 49ers was developed. In July 2006, the team announced plans
to build a 68,000 seat stadium at Candlestick Point for the 2012 season.
This stadium would be built in an effort for the City of San Francisco to be
awarded the 2016 Olympics. The 49ers worked with the 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. However, 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.
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FACTS & FIGURES |
-Tenant: San Francisco 49ers
-Capacity: 68,500
-Surface: Grass
-Opening: 2014
-Naming Rights: TBA
-Architect: HTNB
-Cost:
$937 Million
-Public Financing: 12% by City of Santa Clara
-Private Financing: 88% by 49ers, NFL and sale of naming rights
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49ers
Tickets |
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HOTELS |
Find Great Hotels near
Candlestick Park Here! |
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San Francisco 49ers, Candlestick Park Signature Collection Poster
by Highland Mint
Candlestick Park
Poster
by Mike Smith
Sizes Vary, Framed or Unframed |
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 While Candlestick Point is visually appealing, its geographic
boundaries make 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 $916 million stadium.
After plans fell through to
build a stadium at Candlestick Park, 49ers owner, John York, shifted the
team's focus to building a new stadium in Santa Clara where the 49ers
offices and training facilities are located. On May 29, 2009 the 49ers
reached an agreement with the City of Santa Clara to construction a $937
million stadium. Located 37 miles south of Candlestick Park, the stadium
site is located on the overflow parking lot of Great American theme park.
The stadium plan recreates the ambiance of York's alma mater, Notre Dame
Stadium. Fans would enter the stadium through two large 18,000 square foot
open concourses, on the northwest and southwest corners. Inside the primary
design goal is to bring fans closer to the game. The stadium would have a
seating capacity of 68,500 with 45,000 seats in the lower levels. On the
west side of the stadium, an eight level tower would feature the pressbox,
170 luxury suites and 9,000 club seats. A 27,000 square foot living roof of
plants that will cool the building through evaporation from plan t leaves
will be atop the eight level tower. Two HD videoboards will be located
behind the stands in before endzones.
At a cost of $937 million, $823 million would be funded by the
49ers, the NFL and the Stadium Authority. The City of Santa Clara would
contribute $114 million in public contributions that includes $42 million in
redevelopment money and a special new tax on guests who stay in eight city
hotels. The
49ers will pay for cost overruns. On June 8, 2010 Santa Clara voters
approved a measure backing the deal between the 49ers and the city to build
a new stadium for the team. Officials with the 49ers hope to start
construction in 2012 with the stadium opening in Fall 2014.
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