New Chargers Stadium

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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.

The New Chargers Stadium is the working name of a proposed NFL football stadium that would house the San Diego Chargers football team, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the franchise's home venue.

During the 2003 NFL season and even beforehand, there has been much talk of the Chargers replacing the increasingly obsolete (by NFL standards) Qualcomm Stadium with a more modern, Super Bowl caliber football stadium, mainly due to obsolete features of the stadium as well as severe maintenance issues with the facility.^[1]

The team and city have both attempted to bring business partners in on a proposed $800 Million project,^[2] which was supposed to be located in the parking lot of the current stadium and include upgrades to the area and infrastructure, but all efforts have failed. The Chargers have a clause in their contract saying that if they can pay off all debts to the city and county for the upgrades to the current stadium by 2007, then the team can pull out of its lease and move to another city in 2008.

Currently, after failed attempts by the Chargers and the city of San Diego to come to an agreement on the new stadium, mainly due to the city’s inability to fund a stadium,^[3] the Chargers organization is looking at other places in San Diego County, notably Chula Vista, California, and Oceanside, California.^[4] Oceanside has since been removed as a possible stadium site. ^[5]

[edit] Stadium Use

The proposed stadium would theoretically host events that are currently being held at Qualcomm Stadium. It would host Chargers games as well as the annual Holiday and Poinsettia Bowl games, and SDSU Aztec football games. In addition to football games, the stadium would likely host concerts, soccer games, BMX Motocross events and monster truck events. While a modern facility would also give San Diego the opportunity to host future Super Bowls, there are more NFL venues now than ever before that are capable of hosting Super Bowls.

[edit] Planning

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The cost of stadium construction would be financed by the Chargers, who would pay for construction with the profits of an adjoining development. The team would require a large tract of land either for free or at nominal cost to make the project economically feasible. Based on the site that is selected, the adjoining development would be a combination of commercial, residential and retail uses.^[6]

Based on the site chosen, the Chargers will largely rely on mass transit to take fans to and from the stadium on game days since it is unlikely that any of the proposed sites would provide enough land for a stadium, real estate development and surface-level parking lots. The golf course site in Oceanside, for example, is approximately 71 acres (see below), less than half the size of the Qualcomm site (166 acres (0.7 km²)) that was initially proposed by the Chargers. Plus the necessary widening of I-5 will not begin until at least 2020 according to Caltrans.

[edit] Proposed Stadium Sites

[edit] Oceanside (Dropped)

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2007)

The Oceanside City Council recently agreed to have talks with the Chargers about building a stadium in Oceanside. The Center City Golf Course, also known as "Goat Hill", is currently under consideration as a possible stadium location. The golf course site is northeast of the Interstate 5/Oceanside Boulevard interchange. The city owns an adjoining four acres to the north of the golf course, which would provide a development footprint of more than 75 acres. The site also offers easy access to two major freeways as well as two passenger rail lines.

Oceanside also has a huge advantage considering that 8,800 of the team's season ticket holders already come from North County, 8,500 are from Orange and Riverside counties, and 4,500 come from outside the state.^[7] A stadium built at this site can easily attract more fans from Orange County, Riverside County, and Los Angeles, who currently does not have an NFL franchise, despite being one of the United States largest cities.

There are problems with the site if a stadium is to be built there. The golf course is zoned parkland, and voters would have to approve a zoning change for a stadium to be built. Also some believe that the stadium, if built, can cause traffic and environmental issues to the area, especially during game days. However the Chargers are currently working with traffic, environmental and land-use consultants to determine whether the golf course site is viable. The Chargers have already acknowledged that the golf course site may not be large enough to sustain a development profitable enough to offset the cost of stadium construction. In that case, they would seek to obtain additional real estate in Oceanside or elsewhere in San Diego County to further develop.^[8]

GoAwayChargers.com, a grass roots civic group has presented arguments in opposition to an Oceanside Stadium: ^[9]

[edit] Chula Vista

Chula Vista officials are discussing multiple sites where the Chargers can build a stadium. Two privately owned sites on the city's east side and two near the waterfront.

• One Chula Vista site is located near State Route 125, southwest of the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. The site has the land that a stadium would require, as well as transportation options for reaching such a venue. However there are concerns about the site’s distance from main transit lines.
• One site rests on Chula Vista’s bayfront which is currently occupied by the South Bay Power Plant.
• Another site rests in a vacant B.F. Goodrich site adjacent to the property that's already been designated for the Chula Vista Bayfront, a $750 million convention center and hotel complex. The project is set to break ground next year.
• Another Chula Vista option falls on private property, owned by residential homebuilder, HomeFed Corp, which owns 3,000 acres (12 km²) in the Otay Ranch area, has conducted talks with the Chargers.^[10]

Possible Name Change The mayor of Chula Vista has suggested that a stadium deal could involve the team being re-branded as the "Chula Vista Chargers". The team's spokesman did not completely reject the notion, but indicated that such a condition would only be considered if the stadium was entirely publicly-financed.^[11]

[edit] National City (Dropped)

The proposed National City site is west of Interstate 5 and south of Bay Marina Drive, located east of the 24th Street Marine Terminal. The Port of San Diego has studied the dimensions of the site and come to the conclusion that a stadium could be built on the 52-acre site without disturbing the Port's mission to promote maritime jobs and commerce. Any potential development proposal would require the Port's approval.

Planning discussions are being discussed among the Port, National City and waterfront businesses to reconfigure the layout of the site to make it more efficient with or without a stadium. National City officials believe the benefit of a new stadium would spur new developments around it, generating tax dollars while also boosting the city's profile.^[12]

On May 12, 2007, National City dropped its new stadium proposal, citing problems with land ownership. ^[13]

[edit] Relocation

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If the Chargers do not succeed in building a stadium in Greater San Diego, the team may pursue constructing a stadium in another city. The cities most often mentioned are Los Angeles and Anaheim in Southern California, San Antonio, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada. To date, only San Diego has come up with firm plans that would fit the Chargers vision of an NFL stadium surrounded by commercial and residential real estate development. However the Los Angeles Coliseum has an already approved EIR for a stadium. [1] The general theory is that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Alamodome would be the Chargers' options, should they leave San Diego County for good. Recent news reports have also identified a privately owned site in eastern Los Angeles, near the interchange of the 60 and 57 freeways, which is currently bare land.

[edit] See also

• Qualcomm Stadium – the current stadium of the Chargers, Aztecs, and the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls.

• LA Coliseum - perhaps another stadium site for Chargers that would not trigger a problem with the NFL as an expansion site[2][3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• GoAwayChargers: Issues
• The Fans, Taxpayers and Business Alliance for NFL Football in San Diego (a group pushing for the new stadium)
• Chargers MySpace page to keep the Chargers in San Diego
• The official Chargers future stadium page
• Chula Vista Stadium Effort Poll
• San Diego Stadium Watch (watchdog site keeping track of stadium negotiations)