The Chargers "released a conceptual plan Thursday for a 61,500-seat stadium with a retractable roof, an adjoining convention center featuring a rooftop 'sky garden,' and a new 2-acre park," according to a front-page piece by Showley & Weisberg of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Project architect David Manica said that he "drew his inspiration from San Diego’s mild climate, rugged coastline and sailing culture." The design for the $1.8B project "will be shared in meetings Friday with local officials, including San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and the public on Saturday, when the team launches a petition drive for the Nov. 8 election." Chargers Special Advisor Fred Maas said that if the voters "approve the project, the actual design will be the responsibility of an oversight agency set up by the city with team representatives and may differ from Manica’s concepts." The design allows the stadium to "be expanded to 72,000 seats, capable of accommodating a Super Bowl." By design, the hybrid project "could maximize the amount of space that could be devoted to conventions and local trade shows, as well as special events and concerts." The Chargers are "proposing a total of 260,000 square feet of exhibit space, of which 100,000 square feet would be on the stadium floor adjoining the proposed convention center." A retractable roof made of an "architectural fabric membrane," would "protect the field during rain and convention events." A permanent roof "would largely cover the stadium’s seating bowl." The new convention facility also would "include a 65,000-square-foot ballroom and 80,000 square feet of meeting rooms, plus a 150,000-square-foot rooftop 'sky garden' that would feature cabana-style meeting rooms." Maas said, "This facility allows you to attract the Final Four, world wrestling, soccer and gives you the flexibility for Comic-Con who may decide they want U2 or the Rolling Stones" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/22).
THE TASK AT HAND: In San Diego, Kevin Acee notes with "wavy lines throughout, a sail-like top and forward-leaning front, the nautical feel the Chargers’ attempt to assert in conceptual renderings of their stadium-convention center project is clear." The concept "is natural, intimate, airy, stylish and balanced." Acee: "Really, it is beautifully San Diego." But do "not allow some cool drawings to steer us off course from the real issues of how much public money should be used to help a private entity." Acee: "We have a long way to go and much to debate." However, after viewing these drawings and hearing some of the details, "even the most hardened opposition would have to acknowledge the effort the Chargers have made to make a giant foot fit in a tiny footprint" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/22).
