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In November 2006, the
future of the Oakland A's looked bright, as the team announced plans
to build a new ballpark in Fremont, CA. Those plans have been
derailed due to increased opposition from major retailers and the owner
of the stadium site, west of Interstate 880, near the Pacific
Commons shopping center. Upon announcing plans to build a ballpark,
the Oakland A's sold the naming rights to the ballpark to Cisco
Systems for $4 million/year over 30 years.
The ballpark design
simultaneously mimicked classic ballparks of the past and contained
some of the most advanced
technology in the world. If constructed, it would have been the smallest in Major
League Baseball, seating up to 34,000 fans. The main three tier
grandstand would extend from the left field foul pole to homeplate,
and down the first baseline to right field. Additional seating would
be found in both right and left field. The break down of seating
consisted of field level box seats, 66 four person mini seats 15
rows behind homeplate, lower reserved seats, 41 luxury suites and
rooftop box seats. The main video/scoreboard would have been located beyond
the left/centerfield fence. Early estimates had the ballpark
originally opening in 2009 and later 2011. In April 2008, the A's
announced the earliest Cisco Field would open is 2012. However, in
2009, opposition mounted against the A's proposal near Interstate 880
and Auto Mall Parkway from both citizens and businesses. The A's
also proposed that their new ballpark be built in the Warm Springs
area, near a future BART station. However, this proposal did not gain
any support from the Fremont community. It unfortunately appears that the A's
will have to develop a new ballpark plan that may lead the team to
building a new ballpark in Oakland, near the coliseum or possibly in
San Jose, CA.
In December 2009, the
City of Oakland, proposed three new sites for a waterfront ballpark
in an attempt to keep the team in Oakland. All three sites would
offer walking distance to public transit and easy access to
Interstate 880. The sites include a 20 acre site at Jefferson and
Second streets, another 20 acre site at Embarcadero and Oak Street
and a 50 acre site at the Port of Oakland's Howard Terminal. Under
this proposal, the city would pay for the land, parking and
infrastructure, the A's would pay for ballpark construction costs.
Throughout 2012, the A's have continued struggle in their attempt to
construct a new ballpark. The City of Oakland has continued it
effort to keep the team in the city. A's owner Len Wolff continues
to focus his attention on moving the team to San Jose. However, MLB
has yet to decide if it will allow the move to that city. Wolff is
willing to privately finance the $461 million ballpark and the city
has proposed a site near the Diridon Station.
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