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Earthquakes stadium opening postponed until second half of 2014 season

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By FRANCO PANIZO

The San Jose Earthquakes will open their new soccer-specific stadium in 2014, but not as soon as originally planned.

The Earthquakes announced on Monday that have pushed back the opening of their new home until the second half of the 2014 season due to “unforeseen conditions” at the stadium site. San Jose is now expected to play eight games at Buck Shaw Stadium, one at Stanford Stadium and nine at the new 18,000-seat stadium next year.

“Due to the extraordinary conditions at the stadium site the opening date has been pushed back,” said Earthquakes president Dave Kaval in a statement released by the club. “Our ownership group and organization is committed to building a world-class venue for our fans and to creating the true epicenter of soccer in the Bay Area. We feel that a second-half opening ensures that we accomplish that goal, while giving our team a strong home schedule for the best situation competitively.”

The Earthquakes’ new stadium, which was originally expected to open in the early parts of 2014, is being postponed due several unexpected obstacles popping up during the demolition phase of the project. Some of those obstacles include the discovery of numerous concrete vaults deep in the ground, steel beams and hundreds of concrete pilings.

What do you make of this development?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Damn, now I’m really starting to regret buying ’14 season tickets already. First, they fire their long-time coach; never mind that the whole player payroll equals Robbie Keane’s salary. I’m starting to wonder about this organization. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t open till ’15.

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  2. San Jose is now expected to play eight games at Buck Shaw Stadium, one at Stanford Stadium and nine at the new 18,000-seat stadium next year.

    Will the California Classico continued to be played at Stanford Stadium when the new stadium is open, or are there plans to move it to Levi Stadium when that opens?

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  3. I dont get the tiny stadiums being built, 18,000? I would think if they are going to all the trouble to build a stadium why build it so darn small, I the sport continues to gain popularity maybe they will be able to sell 30,000 tickets, but they will still have the dinky 18,000 seat stadium.

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    • The 18,000 is for seats on both sidelines and one of the endlines, like a U. The open part of the U can have stands built later, which would add another few thousand seats. I can’t remember the exact number, though.

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  4. Does san jose have a downtown or is this spot better than downtown? What about their old owner, who supposedly loves soccer vut in reality he is a lover of his athletics. If i was wolf, i would tell the city, give me a better location for a better price. Then rebrand the team to san jose bay area or san jose athletic or something that connects to silicon valley. Another thing, is san jose better than san francisco or sacramento in terms of soccer, or even oakland. And how about san jose partnering with face book or apple n,make a bad ass team n stadium.

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  5. Bummer, I knew it was too good to be true, but I’ve practically waited my whole life to see a stadium built for the Quakes, so what’s another 6 months.

    It will be interesting to see how they compensate fans that have already paid the higher prices for 2014 season tickets. Technically though the remaining two thirds of the 2014 cost isn’t due until August 1. Probably why they made the announcement now, they’ll just reduce the remaining payment that is due…hopefully!?

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  6. Man, the Quakes can’t catch a break. From bad expansion draft, to bad trades, to bad Superdrafts, to bad price per ticket, to now a bad stadium site. I’m still reeling from seeing my team winning 2 titles in another city. I just want the pain to be over.

    AND I’LL NEVER FORGET DONOVAN’S BETRAYAL!!!!

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  7. As an architect, sometimes unforeseen geotechnical issues (site, soil, groundwater, etc) come up on a project and there isn’t much you can do.

    However you shouldn’t “discover” concrete vaults, steel beams, and hundreds of pilings. You should know about these ahead of time, either from geo surveys or from the drawings of the previous existing building.

    Either they didn’t do enough research into the site to see what was existing, or the contractors ignored it in their timeline to make it seem like they can do the work faster, making their bid look more attractive to the owner.

    It’s too bad they can’t start the season in their new stadium.

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    • Many bunkers and pilings were not on the plans for the previous buildings, one bunker contained munitions. Apparently some basements were just thought to be basements, not hardened bomb shelters. Annoying, but happens.

      We do know there will be 20 home games next season.

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      • These were underground munition and military bunkers probably built during WW2 and later. As such, they are not registered with the city or county. In fact the military allowed few records of these structures to be accessed by local officials. Problems arise when one arm of the government sells off a piece of property used by another and has not the slightest idea of what was previously on the site. In this case the title to the land was passed on to several entities from fed to local and little was known on what lies below.

        Case in point. A neighbor of mine bought a piece of property in Pima County, Arizona. He bought it because the county documents said it had a “huge” water well using a mountain aquifer. These are desirable to ranchers, even though they run deep and cost money to pull the water up, as they do not run dry as a river aquifer might. When they went to inspect the well, they found it was buried and when they brought in a driller to find it an inspect it, they also found a real life Titan II underground Missile Silo with command bunker. When they finally got inside the command bunker (that was in good shape after being buried for around 30 years, they found that someone at one time got access to it and wrote on the wall above where would have been the refrigerator in the crew quarters. it said: ” You’ve just launched a 9 megaton nuclear warhead toward Europe and The Soviet Union…….It’s Miller Time!!”

      • Bah, all i ever found digging holes to plant trees was the previous owners’ pets.

        Most of us suspected the stadium wouldnt be ready for opening day, but another half-season at BS ain’t the end of the world and they’re reducing the charges for the seats purchased. I’ll get over it as soon as i’m looking over the rail at the new pitch with a Lagunitas in hand.

      • Yup, the Bay Area had a lot of these, as it’s right on the coast. Tons of Nike missile silos too. But not much you can do about it.

      • I heard the Ultras formed is these dank bunkers, evolving from the microbial hosts once living on bat guano

  8. Bummed it will wait but glad they are getting it right. Exciting times next season for the Earthquake fans!

    Can’t wait for D.C. United’s new stadium to open in 2016 hopefully. Fingers crosed (:

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  9. guess I am glad I didn’t buy the season tix after all. just last week, when I spoke to quakes ticket rep, he assured me that it would open on time. oops

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