Candlestick Park, the home stadium of the San Francisco 49ers, will be demolished in early 2014 to make way for a new park for the team to play in.
According to Pro Football Talk, the stadium will be demolished after the 49ers complete the 2013 season. The franchise will move to its new stadium in Santa Clara in 2014. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that there was some talk of letting the stadium stay intact until a new developer was brought in, but instead, the city decided that the building's demolition was the best move.
The 53-year-old, 69,000-seat stadium has hosted many of San Francisco's biggest games over the year, including contests with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, such as the Dwight Clark "The Catch" game as well as last year's NFC Championship overtime thriller. Depending on how far the 49ers make it in the playoffs next year could mean that the demolition of the stadium could come just a few weeks after the team plays their last game in the location.
Candlestick Park was opened in 1960 and has hosted a number of significant events and games, including serving as home stadium for the Raiders for one season in 1961. It also had two World Series, and hosted the final concert ever performed by The Beatles. The 1984 MLB All-Star Game also was held there. The Giants previously played their games there until they moved to AT&T Park before the 2000 season.
The new plan for the Santa Clara complex includes a 68,500-seat football stadium and it will be used for large events such as concerts, motocross events, and other community events. The team had planned to build a new stadium in the same area as Candlestick, but after complications the 49ers decided to build in Santa Clara.
According to Yahoo Sports, Lennar Corp. is taking over the site and the Candlestick Point area will be turned into a shopping district with office space and residential living.
The park has been criticized in the past for its field surface and the 49ers had to deal with a blackout on a Monday night game years ago, similar to the one that happened in the Super Bowl. A game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed for 20 minutes when the power went out in the stadium. The 49ers are the final tenants of the stadium.
