NFL: Construction on 49ers’ new stadium passes halfway mark

NFL: Construction on 49ers’ new stadium passes halfway mark

By Mike Rosenberg
San Jose Mercury News

ANTA CLARA — A giant countdown clock ticks down by the hundredth of a second in the nerve center of the San Francisco 49ers new stadium like the scoreboard at an NFL game.

It’s a constant reminder for workers that they are quickly marching toward the end zone to finish pro football’s newest stadium by next summer.

They’re more than halfway done and two weeks ahead of schedule, with the clock now counting down to the end of June. That’s more than a month before the preseason starts, leaving time for concerts or other events to be scheduled before the 49ers start to play.

Workers in Santa Clara devoted 2012 to installing the towering concrete and steel shell of the stadium, spending about $26 million a month. They have been even busier this year working on the inside, burning through an average of $37 million each month.

The seats, scoreboard and even the playing field will start going in during the next few months, and the interior — from the concession stands to the bathrooms to the locker rooms — is already taking shape.

In all, since planning began in 2006, Santa Clara officials and the 49ers have spent $556.6 million on the $1.3 billion project, which is now considered 56 percent complete in terms of time and budget. Since the April 2012 groundbreaking, Turner and Milpitas-based Devcon Construction have maintained a spending pace of $1 million a day. In all, 5,000 people have worked on the site for a combined 1.5 million hours.

See entire article

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23895973/49ers-new-santa-clara-stadium-passes-half-way

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Video: NFL- Minnesota Vikings Stadium bond sale delayed again

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Atlanta Faclons new stadium deal

WSB 2 ABC Atlanta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced Mount Vernon Baptist Church has lowered its asking price from $20.4 million to $15.5 million to make way for the new Atlanta Falcons stadium.
The mayor stepped into talks with Mount Vernon after negotiations between the church and Georgia World Congress Center Authority representatives ended in recent weeks over a $14 million impasse. The church rejected the GWCCA’s offer of $6.2 million and asked instead for $20.4 million.

Video Link

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breaking-news/mayor-reed-to-host-press-conference-on-stadium-at-/nZQ25/

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Morris Brown College alums protest Friendship Baptist NFL stadium plan

Carla Caldwell, Morning Edition Editor
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Graduates and supporters of bankrupt Morris Brown College marched Sunday to Friendship Baptist Church and took seats during the church’s worship service to show their displeasure with a plan that calls for the church to move to school property to make way for a new Falcons stadium.
In paperwork released in connection with stadium plans, the church has expressed interest in two vacant Morris Brown dormitory towers as a possible relocation site – if the church agrees to move so that the new $1 billion stadium can be built on a preferred site south of the Georgia Dome.
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Video: Morris Brown College alums protest NFL stadium land deal

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Video: Morris Brown College marching band 2001

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Video: Morris Brown College marching band 2001

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