Candlestick Park

From the first baseball game in 1961 until the last one in 1999, Candlestick Park was always criticized. Discussion of a new stadium in San Francisco began in the early 1950s when Mayor George Christopher promised to construct a stadium if a Major League Baseball team moved to the the Bay Area. In November 1954 voters passed a $5 million bond for acquisition of land, construction and completion of a stadium. After the 1957 the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to the west coast, the Dodgers to Los Angeles and the Giants to San Francisco. With no stadium under construction, the Giants played at Seals Stadium. Two locations for a stadium in San Francisco were discusses, one in downtown and the other at Candlestick Point. The site at Candlestick Point was chosen because the city already owned 31 acres. The city bought an additional 41 acres at an absurd cost of $2.7 million from Charles Harney, who became the stadium contractor. Construction on the reinforced concrete stadium began in August 1958. Problems arose almost immediately after construction began. Neighbors complained about numerous things, grand juries investigated irregular funding in the stadium, seats were delayed being installed because of a Teamster strike and the stadium was called a fire trap. However, the stadium was completed at a cost of $15 million and named Candlestick Park after its location.

The Giants played their first game at Candlestick Park on April 12, 1960 when 45,744 fans filled the stadium. The grandstand consisted of two main seating decks. The lower deck extended from behind homeplate and down the first base line, down the third base line and around the left field foul pole into left centerfield. The upper deck extended from homeplate down both the first and third base lines. A small section of bleachers were located in right center field. The scoreboard was located above the hitters backdrop in centerfield. Original dimensions at the stadium were 330 ft. (left), 420f ft. (center), and 335 ft. (right). Additional problems arose after Candlestick Park opened. Although it could be a nice warm sunny day at the ballpark, it could also be very windy. Once the sun set, the temperatures dropped and fog was present sometimes. Half of Candlestick Park’s seats were originally to be heated, but because the piping was placed to deep into the cement, the heating never worked.

After only several years of existence Candlestick Park began to deteriorate. At one point the mayor of San Francisco proposed that a new $50 million stadium be built in the downtown area, but his idea was dropped. Between 1970 and 1973 $16.1 million was spent expanding the stadium for the San Francisco 49ers (NFL). Candlestick Park was enclosed, increasing the seating capacity to 59,000, retractable seats were added in right field to allow the conversion to a football field and the grass field was replaced by Astroturf. A new video/scoreboard was located behind the seats in left field, replacing the old scoreboard in centerfield. In the mid 1970s Giants owner Horace Stoneman wanted to leave San Francisco because the team was struggling to attract fans. Stoneman nearly sold the team to a group in Toronto before Bob Lurie bought the team in 1976, keeping them in San Francisco. Lurie wanted a new stadium constructed downtown or either have Candlestick Park domed. Neither of these ever happened even after Mayor Dianne Feinstein proposed doming the stadium in 1985. The same year $30 million was spent on improving the stadium including adding a new scoreboard, more concessions and luxury suites.

Candlestick Park remained basically the same throughout the Giants tenure at the stadium. The enclosure of the stadium helped reduce the wind, but it was still present during games. A major earthquake shook Candlestick Park before the start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series between the Giants and the Oakland A’s. However, Candlestick Park did not collapse as there was only minor damage to the stadium. Prior to the 1993 season, the fence in left field was more than 20 feet from the actual stands. In 1994 $5 million was spent adding $300 field seats, bleachers in left field and an old-time scoreboard in right field. Candlestick Park was renamed 3 Com Park in 1996. In 1993, the Giants began lobbying for a new ballpark. Construction on the Giants new ballpark, AT&T Park, began in 1998. The last Giants game at Candlestick Park was on September 30, 1999. In September 2004, Candlestick Park was renamed Monster Park after Monster Cable Products Inc. purchased the naming rights for four years. The San Francisco 49ers continue to play at the stadium. In March 2008 the stadium was renamed Candlestick Park and the 49ers are looking to build a new stadium in Santa Clara by 2015.