NFL's Neil Glat Comes To Bay Area To See Stadium Sites - KCBS

NFL Officials See Possible 49ers Stadium Site in Santa Clara

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- A day after looking at San Francisco’s proposed site for a new 49ers stadium, NFL executives toured Santa Clara’s tentative stadium site.

On Monday San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom briefed league officials on his plan to keep the team in the city and build a new stadium at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard along the bay. The site is on the federal Superfund list because of toxic pollution. City officials have said the shipyard can be cleaned up in time to open a new stadium in 2012.

"It could be a special place, but the devil is in the details,'' NFL senior vice president Neil Glat said.

Niners owners favor a theme park parking lot south of Santa Clara, although Great America park officials recently announced they oppose the plan. ``We're concerned about a loss of parking and the construction process to build a new stadium,'' said Stacy Frole, spokeswoman for Ohio-based Cedar Fair, which owns Great America.

The NFL cannot directly dictate where the 49ers build a new stadium, but historically the league has lent teams money for new arenas. Three-quarters of NFL teams also must approve a team's move.

``We expect that a new stadium will cost $854 million ... and that some of that will include an investment from the team ownership and hope some will come from a loan from the NFL,'' 49ers Spokeswoman Lisa Lang said.

The 49ers announced in November they were abandoning a decade-long attempt to build a stadium at Candlestick Point, its San Francisco home since 1971.