Cisco Field

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This article or section is about a planned or proposed stadium. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the stadium approaches.

Cisco Field
Location	West of Interstate 880 near Auto Mall Parkway, Fremont, California
Opened	2012(projected)[1]
Owner	Oakland Athletics
Operator	Oakland Athletics
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$400 million (USD)
Architect	360 Architecture Gensler Architecture
Tenants	Oakland Athletics (MLB)
Capacity	32,000 (baseball)
Field dimensions	unknown

Cisco Field is a proposed ballpark in Fremont, California. It would be the new home of the Oakland Athletics and may open as early as 2012, replacing their current home at McAfee Coliseum, where the team has resided since their move to California in 1968. This stadium would mark the first time that the A's franchise has received a brand new stadium in which to play since the completion of Shibe Park in 1909.

[edit] Cisco Field

[edit] The site

In April 2006, A's owner Lewis Wolff first took a modified version of his so-called Ballpark Village proposal to the suburban San Francisco Bay Area city of Fremont where a large 143-acre (0.6 km²) parcel of land is available just north of Mission Boulevard and south of Auto Mall Parkway off Interstate 880 and across from Pacific Commons. The land is currently owned by ProLogis, a real estate firm, and leased to Cisco Systems^[2]. The land had been purchased in the late 90's in anticipation of company growth by Cisco that never occurred due to the dot com bust. Additional land was also purchased by Lewis Wolff's development group to bring the total land up to approximately 240 acres (1.0 km²) at the ballpark village site.

[edit] The development plan

The plan calls for the 240 acres (1.0 km²) to be developed into a combination of commercial, retail, and residential spaces in addition to the construction of a 34,000-seat baseball only facility. It will be the smallest stadium in Major League Baseball. The planned development is similar to the Santana Row development in nearby San Jose, California with the addition of the baseball park. The planned name for the park is Cisco Field as first announced by the Fremont city council after meeting with Wolff on November 8, 2006. The stadium will be privately financed primarily from sales of the surrounding "ballpark village" residential and commercial properties to offset the cost of the stadium. The site plan proposes 520,000 square feet (48,000 m²) of commercial space adjacent to the ballpark, and would include a hotel, restaurant, movie theater and several parking garages of varying size. Its plans also call for 2,900 homes. More than 580 of those residences — including 12 each behind the left- and right-field bleachers — would be sprinkled into retail space north and east of Cisco Field, a 32,000-seat stadium with an estimated $450 million price tag. In addition, 2,318 town homes would be built on 115 acres (0.5 km²) south and west of the ballpark. The housing will be built in phases, and designs show that a 41 acre team-owned parcel would provide nearly 6,000 parking spaces until the town homes are built there. The earliest the stadium would open is for the 2011 season.

[edit] Announcement

A formal press conference to announce the existence of Cisco Field was held on November 14, 2006. Allan H. "Bud" Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball and John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco Systems along with Wolff, were in attendance.

[edit] Transit details

[edit] Auto/Bus

The stadium will have ready access to Interstate 880 directly and Interstate 680 via nearby Auto Mall Parkway and Mission Blvd. Bus service would presumably be offered to various points. Both freeways have existing heavy commute hour traffic.

[edit] Existing commuter rail

The Capital Corridor and Altamont Commuter Express trains also pass reasonably close to the proposed ballpark site, although no nearby station exists. The San Jose Mercury News reported that Wolff has asked the city of Fremont to allow the use of an additional, unused 40 acre property at the corner of Auto Mall Parkway and the railroad tracks for a parking lot. This lot might also be a good spot to build a train station. Difficulties involved with the use of commuter rail include the relatively low number of train sets owned by the two services and the heavily used section of single-track rail along much of the potential route to the south as well as along a short distance to the north.

[edit] Dumbarton rail

The proposed Caltrain Dumbarton Rail service will pass an existing rail junction just 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northwest of the site. This project is currently in the environmental impact report stage. If this project is completed, Caltrain service to both San Jose and San Francisco could conceivably be extended to the stadium site via a combination of the Dumbarton tracks and the existing tracks. Caltrain currently offers service to spectators at AT&T Park, Bay Meadows, Stanford Stadium, and HP Pavilion.

[edit] Existing BART

Bus shuttle service to and from the existing Fremont or Union City BART stations is the probable short term solution.

[edit] Warm Springs BART

The proposed BART Warm Springs Station, slated to be located where S. Grimmer Blvd passes under the railroad tracks, north of NUMMI plant, may be within the reach of a long elevated walkway or moving sidewalk. A simple pedestrian bridge over Interstate 880 from Christy St. to Enterprise St. could serve as a lower cost alternative, along with a potential bus shuttle from the East side of the bridge to and from the station. Other possibilities of connecting that future station to the ballpark village include bus shuttles, a monorail, or a "people-mover".

[edit] Previous options

[edit] 66th Avenue

Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff presented his vision for the team's venue to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority on August 12, 2005. The ballpark he proposed would have held roughly 35,000 fans making it the smallest park in Major League Baseball. The proposed location was to have been on 66th Avenue just north of the A's current home, the Oakland Coliseum. The stadium would have been built on what is currently zoned industrial land and would have included a Ballpark Village which would have had apartments and condominiums. The plan also called for a hotel to be built into the park along with shops. The new ballpark would also have been close to both Interstate 880 and the BART system which was the primary draw of the location. However, a new BART station or a permanent link to the existing Coliseum BART station was going to have to be built to make the plan viable according to the Athletics.

In December 2005, the 66th Avenue location was abandoned when Wolff revealed that the 70+ current owners of the land desired for the new stadium were unwilling to sell. Wolff asked the city of Oakland to acquire the land for the stadium by either providing public land or purchasing private land while he and other private developers would cover the cost of construction. Oakland was unresponsive to these requests.

[edit] Other options

Other options being pursued by outside sources ranged from other locations in the city of Oakland or suburban locations inside Alameda County to moving the team out of the Bay Area. The most promising of these had been a site in uptown Oakland. In a 2001 study, HOK Sport had suggested this as the prime site for a ballpark, however plans to build a park there were canceled by Mayor Jerry Brown. Brown opted to sell the site to condominium builder to whom he had ties. The City of Oakland also considered a site near the Oakland Estuary for a stadium, however, the A's showed no interest in the site due to lack of public transit access. In addition, much of the land had already been sold to a condominium developer.

San Jose was not an option for the A's since the San Francisco Giants have an agreement with Major League Baseball that demarks San Jose as within its territory. If the A's had moved out of the Bay Area, the most likely destinations were Las Vegas, Sacramento, or Portland, Oregon.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLB.com article featuring a photo gallery
• First confirmation of name
• ESPN article November 2006
• Status as of January 2006
• New A's Ballpark Blog by Marine Layer
• SJ Mercury News Article
• John Chambers Mercury SJ News Opinion Article
• Cisco Field Stadium
• Video demonstration of stadium technology from Cisco
• Pacific Commons Retail Properties LLC