Demolition crews are on the scene at Candlestick Park and have already begun taking it down and hauling it off. The two-month effort got under way Monday, reports NBC, and though we've been mentally preparing for this moment for quite some time, the sight of those excavator jaws on the scene is jarring enough that we're kind of grateful for our Monday spent in blissful ignorance.
A peek inside Candlestick as crews prepare to begin its demolition. Up next on our News at 6. http://t.co/WUqOhJMrfa pic.twitter.com/gvEEEeoB4k
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) February 4, 2015
Crews are starting by taking down ramp areas, representatives for the developer said in an announcement yesterday. As you recall, the stadium's demolition will make way for a massive mixed-use housing and commercial project that includes a big outdoor mall. The mall, one hotel, and the development's first 600 homes should be complete by late 2017, according to a November statement by Lennar Urban division president Kofi Bonner. For a time, the developer considered imploding the stadium—which would have taken all of 20 seconds and might've made a Super Bowl halftime show to totally upstage Katy Perry's golden lion—but critics' concerns over a potential toxic plume floating over the Bayview helped kill that idea. Though we're by no means fans of toxic plumes, the piece-by-piece takedown feels a whole lot more excruciating now that we're here. The squeamish among us might've managed to avert our gaze for 20 seconds, but two months?
· Demolition of Candlestick Park Underway, New Development Replacing Stadium [NBC]
· Drone Photos Reveal a Ghostly Candlestick, Torn Up and Awaiting Demolition [Curbed SF]
· Mega Development and Housing Approved for Candlestick Site [Curbed SF]
· Urban Outlet Will Anchor New Development at Candlestick Point [Curbed SF]
· Super Bowl halftime show [SFGate]
· Candlestick to Be Demolished By Wrecking Ball, Not Implosion [Curbed SF]