 Candlestick
Park
San
Francisco, CA
With a legendary history
that includes five Super Bowl Champion teams and Hall of Fame players
including Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Steve Young; Candlestick Park has been
the home to some of the greatest teams in NFL history. Originally built for the San Francisco Giants (MLB), Candlestick Park
has been the home of the 49ers since 1971. Talk of building a
stadium in the San Francisco area began in 1954, when mayor
George Christopher promised to build a stadium if a major league
team would move to the area. Later in the year, a $5 million bond
was issued to build a new stadium. Along with the Brooklyn Dodgers (MLB),
the New York Giants (MLB) decided to move to the west coast after
the 1957 season. The Giants moved to San Francisco, while the
Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Two locations for a new stadium in
San Francisco were discussed. One in downtown, and one at
Candlestick Point. The site at Candlestick Point, located near the
San Francisco Bay, was chosen because of it's lower price and
affordability.
Construction of the stadium began in August, 1958. However, immediately
after construction began, several problems arose. Neighbors complained
about numerous
 things, grand juries investigated irregular funding
in the stadium, seat installation was delayed because of a
teamster strike, and the stadium was called a "fire trap."
Nevertheless,
the stadium was completed. The stadium was named Candlestick Park,
after its location. The Giants played the first game ever at
Candlestick Park on April 20, 1961. In September 2004,
Candlestick Park was renamed Monster Park, after Monster Cable
Products Inc. purchased the naming rights for four years. The
stadium's named reverted back to Candlestick Park in March 2008
after the
stadium naming rights deal with Monster Cable Products expired. A city ballot measure
restricted the team from pursuing the highest bidder for the right
to name the stadium.
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 When it first opened,
Candlestick Park had around
45,000 seats. While the Giants were playing at
Candlestick Park, the
49ers were playing at Kezar Stadium. The 49ers had played at Kezar
Stadium since 1946. After only several years of existence,
Candlestick Park began to deteriorate. At one point, the mayor of
San Francisco proposed that a new $50 million stadium be built in
the downtown area, but his idea was dropped. After the city
decided to spend $16.1 million in 1971 towards improving and making the stadium
more multipurpose, the San Francisco 49ers (NFL) decided to move
there. Candlestick Park was enclosed, increasing the seating capacity to
59,000. Retractable seats were added in right field to allow the
conversion to a football field, and the grass field was replaced
by Astroturf. The
49ers played their first game at Candlestick
Park on October 10, 1971.
Very few changes have taken place since 1971 at Candlestick Park.
In 1979, the
Astroturf was replaced by grass.
In 1995, Candlestick
Park was renamed 3 Com Park after 3
Com Corp.
bought the naming
rights. After the 1999 MLB season, the San Francisco Giants moved
into AT&T Park. Since then, the 49ers have had the stadium to
themselves.
The 49ers are still very popular and continue to sell out every game. However, the team hopes
to move into a new stadium in Santa Clara by 2014.
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