OAKLAND City officials have formally contacted Athletics' owner Lew Wolff to propose a stadium deal that would keep the A's in the Eastbay's largest city, according to a source familiar with civic leaders.The A's owner told city officials, including Mayor Ron Dellums, that he would listen to any new proposal, but wanted a 30-day sabbatical on the matter.
The A's had been negotiating a deal with Fremont leaders over a proposed stadium off Interstate 880, tentatively called "Cisco Field", since 2006, before pulling out of the city formally last week, due to opposition from residents over traffic and infrastructure issues.
It's believed that Oakland will attempt to convince Wolff and co-owner John Fisher that the city's availability of land and built-in infrastructure, would be the best option if the ownership is interested in keeping the franchise in the Bay Area.
Wolff, who has several real estate projects in the south bay, has also spoke to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed about the possibility of building a privately-financed stadium in San Jose, on a site near the HP Pavilion in downtown. That proposal would inevitably draw opposition from the SF Giants, who have an agreement with MLB over territorial rights. In addition, several San Jose citizen groups have openly protested any new construction in the area, citing increased traffic and noise pollution.
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and City council President Ignacio DeLaFuente are expected to offer the A's any one of three sites available for consideration, including Jack London Square, the Laney College area adjacent to the Nimitz freeway, and the existing Coliseum north parking lot, which has the advantage of nearby BART and mass transit.
Last year, Wolff insisted that the franchise, which has been in the East bay for 41 years, would not play in Oakland and insinuated that if no viable stadium site could be developed, that the team might have to look outside the state of California or consider selling the team.
02-26-'09
12: 58 PM PST
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