Niners could be stuck at the 'Stick

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross

Stalled negotiations and economic uncertainty now have the San Francisco 49ers eyeing a vote in November rather than June on their proposed $900 million stadium in Santa Clara - a delay that could leave the team stuck at Candlestick Park well into the next decade.

At the very least, team officials acknowledge that the extra five months before a vote means the Niners' hoped-for home near the Great America amusement park probably won't be built by their self-imposed deadline of 2012.

"It looks like the target date will slip," team spokeswoman Lisa Lang said Tuesday.

That would force the 49ers to re-up at Candlestick, where their lease with the city expires after the 2012 season. The Niners have three options to renew after that, but each commits the team to an additional five years.

Candlestick isn't getting any younger. If they're stuck there through 2017, the Niners are going to want some fix-ups.

Already, the team is working up designs for a new club area with premium seating that could be introduced the season after next.

But there may be more to it than that. Lang confirmed that the Niners are looking at the possibility of a major remodel of the 'Stick - an option they had previously rejected as far too costly.

"We are running the numbers again because things have changed," Lang said. It seems that with the economic downturn, rehabbing the stadium might not be as expensive as once thought.

In December, new team President Jed York met with Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell and hinted that - depending on the outcome of their efforts in Santa Clara - he might come back to the city in three to six months to talk about a Candlestick rehab.

Dufty said he was under the impression they weren't talking about the kind of massive makeover that Chicago's Soldier Field got, "but something that might be north of $100 million."

Niners could be stuck at the 'Stick....