Andre Iguodala: MVP

Candlestick Stadium demolished

The Stick: Going, going, gone

From Field of Schemes:

Since we’re on the subject, one piece of the stadium debate that seldom comes up is that of waste. Not waste of money — that comes up all the time, of course — but waste of resources, of labor power, or energy, of carbon footprint, of all the stuff that you use more of by tearing down an existing building and erecting a new one. 

Not that nobody should ever build anything — and I’ll happily admit that the San Francisco Giants‘ new stadium is an awful lot nicer than the ‘Stick, for example — but there’s a predisposition in American political culture in particular to think of new development only for the jobs and economic activity it creates, without wondering if constantly building structures and then tearing them down again is the most efficient way to run a society.

But some buildings deserve to be torn down, like Candlestick---and the one below:

Fontana Towers

Candlestick Park was more than 50 years old and never was exactly an architectural gem. It had long outlived its original function as the home of the Giants when they moved from New York. The city providing a stadium was part of that deal. 

The Niners moved there ten years later, which was good for the city, since it got them out of an old Kezar Stadium, where every game brought traffic gridlock to that part of the city. Kezar is still a gem, since the city downsized it and turned it into an excellent stadium suitable for high school football, soccer games and track meets, with the track open to the jogging public when not being used for special events.