Great America owner says 'no' to Niners stadium in Santa Clara

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 10/9/7 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross

[SmithL]

SANTA CLARA - If the San Francisco 49ers want to move to Santa Clara, they may have to buy the Great America amusement park as well.

Cedar Fair Corp., which operates Great America - and whose main parking lot the Niners have been eyeing for their dream stadium - has told team officials that they oppose the $853 million project, the 49ers said today.

The company said that once before, then backed off its opposition. This time, however, it's official.

Cedar Fair is preparing to issue a statement Wednesday saying it has concluded, after months of study, that the 49ers' plan to build a 68,000-seat stadium east of Highway 101 won't work for Great America because of the loss of parking, traffic disruptions and the overall negative impact on theme park customers.

Officials in Santa Clara, which collects $5.3 million a year in revenue from Great America, say they consider Cedar Fair's support of the stadium essential for the deal to go forward. The company's plan to announce its opposition came as news to City Hall, where officials said Cedar Fair was continuing to negotiate with Santa Clara as late as today.

"Cedar Fair would need to cooperate with the proposal," Assistant City Manager Carol McCarthy said. "The land is leased to them."

The question is whether Cedar Fair's latest pronouncement is meant as a deal killer, or just the start of intensive negotiations to force the 49ers to buy the amusement park, whose assessed value last year was $114 million.

Cedar Fair wasn't doing much today to clear up the question - company representatives declined to elaborate in advance of Wednesday's announcement.

...the company's real goal may be to sell Great America.

[SmithL]

FYI

[TBP]

I thought the A’s were trying to move down there.

[Westlander]

They should move to Michigan. Granholm, the Canadian governor, will build the stadium for them with taxpayer money.

[scott says]

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[GOP_Raider]

A’s are moving to Fremont...at least that’s the plan.

[scott says]

Candlestick, or whatever they are calling this week, is a dump.
The 49ers need a new state of the art facility. They need to get that clown York out of the front office...darn it,I miss Eddie D.
He would get a deal done...maybe not the legal way, but he would get it done!
The Niners are a mere shadow of the great organization of the 80s and early 90s, what a shame.

[martin_fierro]

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[RayChuang88]

I think in the end, the 49ers will probably build a new stadium at Hunters Point just east of the current Candlestick Park location. There are a number of advantages to do this:

1. The land is likely going to be available for cheap from the US Navy.
2. It would not take much to improve the freeway access from US 101.
3. Public transport is less of a problem than people think, since San Francisco MUNI could run a light-rail extension out to the location of the stadium easily (thanks to the recently-opened 3rd Avenue light rail line), and because it's next to San Francisco Bay, they could build a ferry terminal very close to the stadium like they do now at the Giants' AT&T Park.

[Uncle Hal]

Folks, York is playing this smart. He has 2 cities bidding for him and all he has to do is sit back and take the best deal. He probably will end up in SF, unfortunately.