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 Candlestick Park
San
Francisco, CA
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 milli on
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 2012.
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