Candlestick to be imploded next year

For 49ers and Raiders fans, the thought of their beloved Candlestick Park being reduced to nothing in 30 seconds to make way for a shopping mall might be too much to bear.

But they might as well hop on board, because plans are on track to implode the stadium within weeks of next season’s final touchdown, according to SFGate.

This is the second half in a story of heartbreak for Bay Area football fans, the first being in 2006 when the 49ers announced they would not be revamping Candlestick into a state-of-the-art stadium, but instead building a new one in Santa Clara.

At the time, owner John York said that an extensive study of the Hunters Point site indicated a new stadium and accompanying shopping mall would not work, with parking and other infrastructure costing more than the stadium itself.

However, after the 2013-2014 season is over, Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corporation will step in to redevelop the site — in which Candlestick will have no place, according to Lennar Urban president Kofi Bonner. He told SF Gate:

“The best thing for our development and the neighborhood is not to have that hulking building sitting there empty.”

The city’s Recreation and Park Department, who owns Candlestick, welcomes the redevelopment plan because it prevents the city from spending millions of dollars on an empty, tenant-less site. Rec and Park head Phil Ginsburg told SFGate:

“Everything has a life, and Candlestick has exceeded it.”

So out with the old and in with the new, which will be a 800,000 square foot retail, residential and office complex. Plans also include a 3,000 – 4,000 seat arena that could house small concerts, the San Francisco Bulls ice hockey team and possible pro women’s basketball games, according to SFGate.

Before demolition, however, the city will be taking suggestions for how to give The Stick a proper goodbye.