Design For New 49ers Stadium Brings Fans Closer To Field, Players
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New Design For 49ers Stadium Offers
Party Decks, Field-Level Club Seats |
The design plan for a new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara "would bring more of the regular fans closer to the field, offer 'party decks' to watch the game in an outdoor sports bar atmosphere, and feature field-level club seats where high-rollers could see players sprint past onto the turf," according to Mike Swift of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. HNTB architects described their stadium design as "Silicon Valley meets Notre Dame football," and Swift notes 49ers President Jed York and co-Owner John York attended Notre Dame so it is "not surprising the owners asked HNTB to evoke the 'ambiance'" of Notre Dame Stadium. The result is a "lower seating bowl that would hold most of the Santa Clara stadium's 68,500 seats." The architects said that "refinement of the structural system allowed them to make the stadium's outer surface more open, by replacing more massive supports with thinner cables and rods." One of the design's "unique features is that most of the 170 or so luxury suites and 8,000 to 9,000 club seats would be enclosed in an eight-level tower on the west side of the stadium, rather than wrapped around the bowl as in most stadiums." The team "plans to have club seats adjacent to the players' entrance, where fans could watch players take the field at close range." The architects also are "working on ways to allow fans in selected stadium sections to go on the field before a game." The proposed stadium also would include a "half-acre of solar panels, a 'green roof' made of living plants, and office space for a Silicon Valley company that wants a high-visibility address." The team "expects to present its design at a July 14 City Council meeting," and the new venue is "still five years from reality" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/16).
MARKING THEIR TERRITORY: The SILICON VALLEY/SAN JOSE BUSINESS JOURNAL's William-Arthur Haynes notes Great America theme park Owner Cedar Fair Entertainment has been "left on the sidelines" as the Santa Clara and the 49ers "continue efforts to build a stadium." Cedar Fair is "concerned about access to parking" when the theme park is open on the same day that NFL games or other stadium events are scheduled. Cedar Fair spokesperson Stacy Frole: "We're not the ones who proposed the stadium in that location. We're the ones trying to work with the city and the 49ers to get our concerns addressed." Haynes notes Cedar Fair "appears to have the upper hand based on a 20-plus-year-old lease agreement that has governed the city's arrangement with the park's various owners and runs through 2039." That agreement "obligates Santa Clara to provide a designated number of parking spaces -- 8,100 spots -- within a certain distance to the theme park's main entrance" (SILICON VALLEY/SAN JOSE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/12 issue).
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