Candlestick to get a smashing farewell

The development proposed for the Candlestick site is billed as resembling the downtown Walnut Creek shopping district. The development proposed for the Candlestick site is billed as resembling the downtown Walnut Creek shopping district. Photo: -, Lennar Urban Photo: -, Lennar Urban Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Candlestick to get a smashing farewell 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

It hosted two World Series, The Catch and the Beatles' last concert. Now it looks like Candlestick Park will go out with a blast next year to make way for a shopping center.

Plans are to blow up the 69,000-seat stadium with a 30-second implosion, possibly within weeks of the 49ers' final touchdown next season.

San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department, which owns Candlestick, had feared it would be stuck spending millions to mothball the 53-year-old structure until Lennar Corp. was ready to build something on the land.

Lennar, however, figures there's no point in waiting.

"The best thing for our development and the neighborhood is not to have that hulking building sitting there empty," said Kofi Bonner, president of Lennar Urban, which plans a retail, residential and office complex for the stadium site and the former Hunters Point Shipyard.

The city couldn't be happier with the plan for the dynamite spectacular. "Everything has a life, and Candlestick has exceeded it," said Phil Ginsburg, head of Rec and Park.

Plans for a side-by-side stadium and mall at Candlestick evaporated after the Niners announced in 2006 that they were building a $1 billion stadium in Santa Clara.

Bonner said rubble from the Stick will be used to grade the site for an 800,000-square-foot shopping district similar to the one in downtown Walnut Creek.

There are also plans for a 3,000- to 4,000-seat arena that could accommodate small concerts, house the San Francisco Bulls ice hockey team and maybe even host pro women's basketball.

In the meantime, the city will be taking suggestions for a suitable Stick send-off before the big blast.

More sporting news: The Giants have hired San Francisco political consultant Alex Clemens (spokesman for hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger) to try to win support for their proposed development across from AT&T Park.

The team can certainly use the help, judging by the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association gathering this past week. Attendees told us there was serious talk of launching a referendum to make it hard for the Giants to erect the 30-story condo towers the team has in mind for the project.

Among those on hand urging a fight was former Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is leading the ballot drive to stop the 8 Washington condo development on the northern waterfront.

Just up the road from the ballpark, by the way, the Warriors are doing their best to allay concerns that their proposed waterfront arena will block views. Their latest plan calls for wrapping the 13-story arena at Piers 30-32 with a publicly accessible ramp that would lead to a rooftop observation deck and some of the best views around.

Armed and loaded: The little town of Los Gatos is fired up these days over a gun shop that opened without so much as a public hearing.

The Templar Sports store on University Avenue includes high-powered semiautomatic rifles in its inventory.

Shannon Susick, a mother of two, says she and her friends were "flabbergasted" when the store opened two weeks after the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. They took to the streets to protest when they found out the only approval needed for the gun shop was from the town's design review committee, which typically handles house remodels.

Town Manager Greg Larson said the city had little choice but to issue a business license for the store. That's because there is no prohibition on retailers, including firearms sellers, in the light-industrial part of town where Templar Sports is located.

As a result of the stir, the Town Council has called for a public hearing Tuesday to consider what options they have to restrict the store's gun sales.

By the way, public records show that the store is co-owned by a Los Gatos police officer, Todd Fleming. He did not return our calls.

Without confirming Fleming's role by name, Police Chief Scott Seaman said he had given the officer permission to moonlight as long as it didn't interfere with his day job.

Muni money: The San Francisco city controller's recent report on the lack of controls in Muni's $25 million overtime payout last year included a number of eye-poppers.

Our favorite was the revelation that Muni drivers get eight hours of overtime for working on their birthdays.

And that five drivers got birthday pay more than once last year.