Here's what the Oakland Athletics have planned for new ballpark at Howard Terminal
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The Oakland Athletics have announced plans for a new stadium along the waterfront at Howard Terminal.
Team officials believe the Howard Terminal location is the best way to generate excitement with fans, sell more tickets and make the money to help pay for this new stadium.
The stadium will be nestled carefully into its urban surroundings, according to the A's. The team says they consider it a "ballpark within a park."
As for the Coliseum, it would be torn down and turned into a low rise sports amphitheater surrounded by grassy knolls. There would also be development, including affordable housing, a youth sports complex, and a shopping strip.
The new stadium will be privately funded. Officials at a news conference today were slight on some key details, saying they are still negotiating a path to this plan.
"They're in an agreement, so it's like we're dating exclusively. We're not looking anywhere else. But we're in a courtship right now. So that's the period under which we develop the details of a potential actual development. So you will have many more opportunities for us to have these conversations again, this is really, really a gorgeous starting line," said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
The A's president says the new stadium will be like nothing you have ever seen; it will seat 34,000 and will come with a roof deck to take in the views. Officials did not say how much it will cost, but expect to break ground in late 2020. They are planning on opening the stadium in 2023.
As for the old location, they have plans for that site too. Officials say it will become a housing and tech hub; they'll keep Oracle Arena and turn the Coliseum into a low rise sports facility.
This has been a long time coming, the A's have looked at Fremont and San Jose in the past. Yet today the A's are being praised for positioning themselves as Oakland's team, just as the Warriors and the Raiders are leaving.
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