Cisco Field
Fremont, CaliforniaTenant: Oakland Athletics (AL) Architects: 360 Architecture & Gensler Architecture Oakland Athletics tickets:
Location: On a 143-acre parcel near Fremont's Pacific Commons shopping center. It is bordered by Cushing Parkway on the southeast and southwest, the Nimitz Freeway (I-880) on the northeast and Bunche Drive, then Automall Parkway on the northwest. On November 14, 2006, the Athletics announce they had reached an agreement with Cisco Systems to purchase a 143-acre parcel of land in Fremont, California for the purpose of building a new ballpark there. The ballpark will be named Cisco Field as part of a 30-year naming rights agreement valued at $4 million annually. Cisco's technology will be used to enhance every part of the stadium, including ticketing, concessions and management of game day operations. Groundbreaking on the project will begin when the A's get approval from the City of Fremont, Alameda County and other government agencies. The estimated cost of the ballpark is between $400-500 million (excluding land) and construction is expected to take between 24 and 36 months. Funding for the ballpark is expected to be a combination of private equity and public assistance.
On August 12, 2005, Athletics owner Lew Wolff proposed building a new ballpark for his team on a site just north of the Coliseum in Oakland. The proposal called for a 35,000-seat ballpark to be built as part of residential and retail park. The A's owners would have paid most of the estimated $300 million to $400 million cost of the park. Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, as well as Coliseum board members, voiced approval for the plan. They said it promised to keep the team in Oakland and be an economic boon for East Oakland. However, De La Fuente favored a site close to downtown and near the Oakland Estuary. Wolff preferred building the ballpark near the Coliseum because it is near the BART line. He wanted to see another BART station built next to the park, but the Coliseum station would have worked. The area would have to be rezoned for redevelopment, and several business would have to be relocated. The city of Oakland had a strategy to revitalize its Uptown District, and the Oakland Athletics was a part of it. There appeared to be a consensus emerging on the best place for the Athletics to play, if they stayed in Oakland. Of the seven sites studied in a 2001 report handed out at the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) meeting on December 13, 2001, the most favorable was that in the Uptown District. Other sites studied were:
San Jose has shown interest in bringing the Athletics to a site west of their downtown. The San Jose City Council voted in December 2004 to attempt to acquire the former Del Monte cannery site on Auzerais Avenue near Interstate 280 for a stadium. However, the San Francisco Giants have territorial rights to Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located, and there has been no indication that the team would be willing to give up those rights. The Giants considered moving to San Jose in the early 1990s, but new ownership opted to build a ballpark in San Francisco instead. Since then, the Sharks NHL team has enjoyed enormous success in San Jose, and many believe it is an indication that a MLB franchise would be successful in the area.
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