OK, even if the 49ers do move out of dumpy Candlestick Park and set up shop down the road in Santa Clara, they’re still going to be called the San Francisco 49ers. That much has been settled. But that’s about all. Bay Area voters love a good stadium initiative, as they proved again on Tuesday, with Santa Clara (apparently) approving Measure J, the 49ers’ plan to build a $937 million stadium in their backyard. That’s only the first step, of course. In a similar vote in 1997, San Francisco voters approved a plan to rebuild Candlestick Park as part of a major Hunters Point renovation project, and that went belly up soon afterward. In fact, SF mayor Gavin Newsom is still clutching the blueprints to that scheme, hoping the team will come to its senses and abandon the Santa Clara move.
Next comes the Disposition and Development Agreement, where Santa Clara and the team have to hammer out the financial and environmental details (no sure thing). The 49ers are responsible for $493 million of the funding, and are hopeful that the NFL will help. That, also, is yet to be determined. The target is to break ground in 2012, and move in for the 2014 season. Meanwhile, Newsom says that SF is going to build a 69,000-seat stadium at the Candlestick site anyway. So after decades of having no decent pro football venues here, we’re now going to have two? I can see the scenario now: The Raiders, tired of playing in decrepit McAfee Coliseum, snap up offer to cross the Bay and play in new Hunters Point stadium, becoming the San Francisco Raiders. Meanwhile, 49ers’ Santa Clara deal falls through, so they have nowhere else to go and become the Oakland 49ers. Adjust your schedules accordingly.
It’s astounding Time is… fleeting Wednesday… takes its toll. But listen closely..
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
What you missed while waiting in the cafeteria line behind the alligator …
* There’s soon to be a serious junk food shortage in Britain as soccer fans stock up for the World Cup.
* Manny Pacquiao agrees to Floyd Mayweather’s drug-testing terms. Um, just a little bit late, aren’t you?
* Oregon man sets record for running barefoot. Nike perplexed as to how to exploit this.
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TODAY IN MARK TRAIL …
Paper he’s reading: Thin Mustache Villain’s Daily
