In S.F., Lee & Tucker report Santa Clara leaders “approved plans Tuesday night for a new 49ers stadium by the 2014 season, finalizing the team's exit from San Francisco sooner than expected.” The City Council “voted 5-1 to support an $878.6 million contract that calls for kicking off construction on the 68,500-seat stadium in July, about six months earlier than anticipated, and finishing by August 2014, in time for the exhibition season.” A joint venture of Turner Construction and Devcon Construction “will design and build the 15-acre facility on what is currently a parking lot” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/15).
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT: In Denver, Jeremy Meyer notes a proposal to add three lighted-red-letter signs to the exterior of Sports Authority Field at Mile High has "riled neighborhood groups, has produced an avalanche of e-mails and is leading to a showdown today" in front of Denver's planning board. Officials from Sports Authority, which paid $150M for the naming rights and wants to erect five signs that spell out its name, said that they "have responded to the community's concerns – holding 25 meetings with neighbors, agreeing to limit when the ... signs are illuminated and conducting lighting studies that they say show a 'negligible' impact" (DENVER POST, 2/15).
FINDING A PARKING SPOT: The NFL Panthers are “in talks with Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co. about using some or all of an 18-acre site” on West Morehead Street across from Bank of America Stadium “for game-day parking.” The company in October “bought the vacant tract near the stadium, where Beazer Homes once planned a community” (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/10 issue).
