Sticking with what they have
Report: 49ers to scrap stadium plans, renovate 3Com
Posted: Monday January 11, 1999 10:26 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The San Francisco 49ers have
all but abandoned plans for a costly new football stadium and instead will
renovate 3Com park, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.
Plans originally called for a new, $325 million stadium to be built next to
the old Candlestick Park with the help of $100 million in bonds narrowly
approved by voters, but some cost estimates have soared over $525 million.
Team officials and Mayor Willie Brown met last September after similarly
grim reports in the media, and announced that a new stadium would be built
after all, without extra public money and in time for the lucrative 2003
Super Bowl.
President Larry Thrailkill, who resigned Saturday, said then that he and
Brown and their staffs would review the numbers together to curb costs and
keep the stadium within their budget.
But the Chronicle reported Monday that team officials simply
couldn't figure out a way to build a new stadium for $325 million, and
instead are considering tearing apart the old park and rebuilding it with
new stands and luxury suites.
"That's the only scenario they're looking at now," the Chronicle
quoted a source close to owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. as saying.
Brown, who has insisted that the new stadium will be built by the 2002
football season as scheduled, said he hadn't been told of any change in
plans.
"I've never heard of any of this," Brown told the Chronicle Sunday.
"I assume that if Eddie DeBartolo and the 49ers have differing views,
they'd at least consult with me. But no one from the city has been privy to
any redesign of the stadium."
Uncertainty in the team's front office hasn't helped planning. DeBartolo
has been struggling to regain control of the team from his sister since he
pleaded guilty to a felony charge in October in connection with a Louisiana
gambling fraud investigation.
This Saturday, Thrailkill quit as president, saying he had completed his
caretaker duties after being hired to oversee the team following the
departure of Carmen Policy.
Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who led the 49ers to three Super Bowls wins
during the 1980s, is widely expected to rejoin the team as early as this
week in some front-office job, a team source told The Associated
Press.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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