Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201160073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
GIANTS LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO
The San Francisco Giants unveiled on Wednesday a fourth and final plot to escape from their windy prison in Candlestick Park. This time, the Giants are making a break for San Jose."I feel confident for the first time that the home [needs] of the Giants will be satisfied," owner Bob Lurie said during a news conference. "We have struggled through this process for what seems like 100 years . . . but I feel good about this. I can't wait to see the first shovel in the ground."
Thwarted by a lack of voter support in three previous tries, the Giants hope this time to move into a proposed 48,000-seat, $185 million stadium in northern San Jose by the beginning of the 1996 season. Again, the move will be up to the voters.
The Giants, who would change their name to the "San Jose Giants," have been looking for several years for a San Francisco Bay area alternative to Candlestick Park, where the team has struggled with icy winds and fog since 1960.
Their Candlestick Park lease expires after the 1994 season.
"I have said that it has been my desire all along to keep the team in the Bay area, and we're going to do it," Lurie said. "All the factors needed for a good ballpark are here."
Asked if this would be his final bid to keep the team in Northern California, Lurie said, "It's the last, and the best."
The Giants were unsuccessful in three tries at the initiative process. San Francisco voters rejected stadium proposals in 1987 and 1989. In November 1990, the 15 cities in Santa Clara County failed to approve an initiative to build a stadium in the city of Santa Clara.
That initiative failed although voters in San Jose approved a 1 percent utility tax.
"San Jose was very supportive last time," Lurie said.
The Giants and the San Jose city council reached agreement on a 30-year lease Monday night after months of "tough, protracted, no-nonsense" negotiating, San Jose mayor Susan Hammer said.
She promised a campaign to convince voters to approve spending for the stadium. The initiative will probably appear on the June ballot.
Hammer estimated the Giants would mean at least $90 million annually to the local economy and create thousands of jobs.
If the project is approved, city officials will aim for groundbreaking in late 1993, with the stadium to be completed before April 1996.
The Giants will contribute $30 million to the cost of stadium construction, and will be responsible for any cost overruns.
Keywords:
BASEBALL