Candlestick Park
San Francisco, CA

  From the opening game to the last game, Candlestick Park was always criticized. Talk of building a stadium in the San Francisco area first began in 1954, when the mayor George Christopher promised to build a stadium if a major league team would move to the area. Later in the year, a \$5 million bond was issued to build a stadium. Along with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants decided to move to the west coast after the

1957 season. The Giants moved to San Francisco, while the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Two locations for a new stadium in San Francisco were discussed. One in downtown, and one at Candlestick Point. The site at Candlestick Point, which was located near the San Francisco Bay was chosen because of the price of the land. Construction on the reinforced concrete stadium began in August of 1958. Immediately after construction began, problems arose. 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. The stadium was named Candlestick Park, after its location.

Opening Day came on April 21, 1960 when 45,744 fans filled Candlestick Park. The grandstands consisted of two main seating decks. The lower deck extended from behind homeplate and down the first base line, and down the third base line and around the left field foul pole to 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). From the first day Candlestick Park opened, more problems arose. While it could be a nice warm sunny day at the ballpark, it could also be very windy. Once the sun set, the temperatures also dropped, and fog also was present sometimes. Half of Candlestick Park’s seats were suppose to be heated, but because the piping was placed to far 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. However, the city spent \$16.1 million after the 1971 season to improve and make the stadium multipurpose, where the San Francisco 49ers (NFL) would also play. 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.

Candlestick Park remained basically the same until the Giants moved out prior to the 2000 season. The enclosure of the stadium helped reduce the wind, but it was still present during games. A major earthquake shook Candlestick Park right 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. Their was only some minor damage done to the stadium. Prior to the 1993 season, the fence in left field was more than 20 feet from the actual stands. After the 1992 season, a section of bleachers was installed in left 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, Pacific Bell Park, began in 1998. The last game at Candlestick Park was on September 30, 1999. The San Francisco 49ers continue to play at Candlestick Park.