Dec 3, 2008 8:33 pm US/Pacific
A's Owner Considers New Fremont Stadium Near BART
FREMONT (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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Artist's rendering of proposed A's stadium.
CBS 5
Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff said Wednesday that he's considering moving the baseball team's proposed Fremont ballpark to within walking distance of the planned Warm Springs Bay Area Rapid Transit District station in Fremont.
In an interview, Wolff said he's willing to consider whatever site is preferred by city of Fremont officials, including a 40-acre parcel across the street from the Warm Springs station, just north of the NUMMI automotive plant and east of Interstate Highway 880.
"We would be delighted to reconsider" building options in Fremont, Wolff said.
Until now, the A's have been planning on building their proposed new 32,000-seat stadium, which is to be called Cisco Field, at a site west of Interstate 880.
Critics of the project have complained that the current site could cause traffic problems because it's about four miles from the existing BART station in downtown Fremont, so most fans would wind up driving to A's games. The current site is about 1.5 miles from the Warm Springs station.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said that staff members from the transit agency would meet with A's representatives on Thursday to discuss the possibility of the team building its stadium near the Warm Springs station.
Johnson said now that Santa Clara County voters have approved a sales tax, called Measure B, to help pay for extending BART to San Jose, the final $200 million needed for the Warm Springs extension is available.
He said BART hopes that construction will begin next year and be completed in five years.
In addition to a stadium, the A's plans for Fremont include housing with 3,150 residential units, shops, restaurants, an elementary school and a hotel.
But Wolff said Wednesday that, "The economy has delayed our residential concept and if we wait for that part of the project to be ready we wouldn't have a ballpark.
He said, "Our goal is to get a ballpark" and he will do whatever it takes to get a stadium built somewhere in Fremont as soon as possible.
Wolff added, "Hopefully we can stimulate the economy in the area."
He said, "We're staying in Alameda County - that's very critical to me."
Referring to the possibility of having the new stadium near the Warm Springs station, Wolff said, "It's always better to be by a mode of mass transit."
But he said he doesn't think there would be major traffic problems if the stadium is built at the currently proposed site.
"We only operate about 90 days a year, including weekends and some day games during the week," when traffic is less crowded, Wolff said.
Wolff said even though the residential part of the project won't go forward at this time, he will find other ways to finance the stadium without using public money.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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