Niners File Suit Against City In Stadium Dispute
The Shadow
SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco 49ers have filed a legal claim
against their home city over leaky luxury boxes, flooded parking lots
and other maintenance problems at city-owned Monster Park -- the latest
skirmish in the battle with the city over a new stadium.
The claim filed Monday alleges the city has violated terms of the
stadium lease by failing to make a range of necessary repairs after
years of complaints, costing the team revenue.
The 47-year-old stadium on Candlestick Point suffers from rusty light
towers and steps, cracked walkways, clogged drains in concession stands
and broken escalators and elevators, according to the complaint. In the
past, broken equipment has fallen into areas where fans could have been
injured if the collapse had happened on game day, the team said.
"The level of deferred maintenance and neglected maintenance is and has
been unacceptable," Murlan Fowell, the 49ers' vice president of
operations, wrote in a letter to the city.
A spokeswoman for the San Francisco city attorney's office said the
matter was under review. City officials in the past have denied
violating the lease.
The 49ers this month extended their lease for five years at Monster
Park, but team officials said they were continuing to focus on the
possibility of building a new stadium in Silicon Valley near the team's
Santa Clara headquarters.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has asked the 49ers to build a new
stadium at the city's old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a location
rejected by the team two years ago over concerns about limited freeway
access and toxic waste at the site.
The team also denied reports Monday that 49ers officials were in
discussions with the Oakland Raiders about sharing a new stadium at the
Santa Clara site.