Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Hunters Point area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 until 1999, after which the Giants moved into Pacific Bell Park (since renamed Oracle Park) in 2000. It was also the home field of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League from 1971 through 2013. The 49ers moved to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the 2014 season. The last event held at Candlestick was a concert by Paul McCartney in August 2014, and the demolition of the stadium was completed in September 2015. As of 2019, the site is planned to be redeveloped into office space.[7]
Former names
602 Jamestown Avenue
Left field
330 ft (1960), 335 ft
Left-center field &
Right-center field
397 ft (1960), 365 ft[6]
Center field
420 ft (1960), 400 ft
Right field
330 ft (1960), 328 ft
Backstop
73 ft (1960), 66 ft 
August 12, 1958[1]
April 12, 1960
August 14, 2014
February 4 – September 24, 2015
US$15 million
($154 million in 2023 dollars[2])
John Bolles & Associates
Chin and Hensolt, Inc.[3]
Charles Harney Co.[4]
The stadium was situated at Candlestick Point on the western shore of San Francisco Bay. Candlestick Point was named for the "candlestick birds" (long-billed curlews) that populated the area for many years. Due to Candlestick Park's location next to the bay, strong winds often swirled down into the stadium, creating unusual playing conditions. At the time of its construction in the late 1950s, the stadium site was one of the few pieces of land available in the city that was suitable for a sports stadium, and had room for the 10,000 parking spaces that had been promised to the Giants.
The surface of the field for most of its existence was natural bluegrass, but for nine seasons, from 1970 to 1978, the stadium had artificial turf. A "sliding pit" configuration, with dirt cut-outs only around the bases, was installed in 1971, primarily to keep the dust down in the breezy conditions. Following the 1978 football season, the playing surface was restored to natural grass.
Replacement and demolition[edit]
By 1997, plans were underway to construct a new 68,000-seat stadium at Candlestick Point.[37] On November 8, 2006, however, the 49ers announced that they would abandon their search for a location in San Francisco and begin to pursue the idea of building a stadium in Santa Clara. Because its centerpiece stadium was lost, San Francisco withdrew its bid for the 2016 Olympics on November 13, 2006. Ground-breaking for the Santa Clara stadium occurred on April 19, 2012. On May 8, 2013, the media announced that the name of the new stadium would be Levi's Stadium. The stadium opened on July 17, 2014, in time for the 2014 NFL season. The 49ers christened their new home a month after it opened.
A grassroots movement for the Giants to play another baseball game at Candlestick had existed since 2009. Many fans had hoped to see another game in 2010, the 50th anniversary of the Giants' first season at Candlestick Park, but the idea was dropped due to the cost. Although many fans wished for another Giants game at the Stick, the Giants never returned to their former stadium for a final game.
With the departure of the 49ers, Candlestick Park was left without any permanent tenants. Demolition was expected to occur soon after the 49ers played their final game of the 2013 season, but over time the date of demolition was moved back to late 2014, with several special events planned for the intervening period.[38] In April 2014, Paul McCartney announced that he would perform a concert as the last scheduled event in the 54-year-old stadium on August 14, 2014.[39] The Beatles had performed their last scheduled concert at Candlestick Park 48 years earlier.
Demolition began in November 2014 as workers tore out seats.[40] In January 2015, the developer withdrew a request to implode the stadium, possibly to be broadcast as part of the Super Bowl halftime entertainment. Instead, mechanized structural demolition commenced, which was favored over implosion due to local dust pollution concerns.[41] Demolition was expected to be complete by March 2015,[42][43] but was not completed until September 24, 2015.
In 2014, 1,000 historic Candlestick Park Stadium seats were installed at Kezar Stadium for the public to enjoy. The renovation was funded by the city's Capital Planning General Fund. Mayor Edwin M. Lee helped re-open the stadium with a warm-up run.[44]
In December 2016, 4,000 additional historic Candlestick seats were acquired and installed at Kezar. The seats were paid for by the San Francisco Deltas as a part of a $1-million improvement the team agreed upon to make use of the stadium.[45]
In November 2014, Lennar and Macerich announced plans to build a dense "urban outlet" center incorporating retail and housing with underground parking on the Candlestick Park site. The proponents suggested that the new development would be completed in 2017.[46] The project has not proceeded, and the plan was suspended by its proponents in April 2018.[47]