For years the Oakland Athletics have been right at the top of the list of teams that desperately need a new ballpark. The Oakland Coliseum has caused the A’s a host of major league problems, chief among them recurring plumbing issues that have led to the clubhouses and dugouts flooding with sewage on numerous occasions.
Today, the team took another step closer to abandoning the problem child that is the Oakland Coliseum and announced it has hired four architecture firms to lead the design process of a new, problem-free home ballpark. Sasaki, Snøhetta, and Studio T-Square will lead the master planning and urban design efforts for the new stadium while HOK and Snøhetta will collaborate on the design.
Additionally, Sasaki, Snøhetta, and Studio T-Square will assist the A’s in a community engagement process. “A key component to making this project a success will be an active and meaningful engagement with A’s fans as well as with the broad and incredibly diverse community of Oakland,” says James Miner, AICP, Sasaki Principal, in a release. “We want the ballpark to be a great place not only for baseball, but also for the community and the environment.” There are no renderings yet, but Miner sees the new stadium as just one piece of the puzzle that will become an “urban ballpark district.”
Brad Schrock, AIA, regional leader of Sports + Recreation +Entertainment at HOK says, “We’re looking forward to collaborating with the A’s and our design partners to create an imaginative, amenity-rich, and enduring community asset.”
Currently, the stadium is being planned for a piece of land that sits next to Lake Merritt near Downtown Oakland. The area is surrounded by parkland and neighborhoods, a stark contrast to the sea of asphalt the Oakland Coliseum exists in. Estimates project the new stadium to seat 35,000 fans and cost approximately $500 million.
Update (12/06/17)
The A's just can't catch a break when it comes to getting a new ballpark. The board of trustees of Peralta Community College District, which owns the site near Laney College the new stadium was being designed for, voted to halt ongoing discussions with the A's.
"We are shocked by Peralta’s decision to not move forward," the A's said in a statement. "All we wanted to do was enter into a conversation about how to make this work for all of Oakland, Laney, & the Peralta Community College District. We are disappointed that we will not have that opportunity."
The next step for the team, if they are unable to rekindle discussions with the Peralta Community College District, is to reexamine other possibilities for a new stadium. The board's decision came as a surprise to the team, however, so a backup plan may not even exist.
Libby Schaaf, Oakland's mayor, remains optimistic about the A's future in the city and the team's ability to build a new ballpark. "Oakland remains fiercely determined to keep the Athletics in Oakland," Schaaf wrote in a statement on Twitter. "It is unfortunate the discussion with Peralta ended so abruptly, yet we're committed, more than ever, to working with the A’s and our community to find the right spot in Oakland for a privately-financed ballpark."
This latest setback comes less than one month after a design team of Sasaki, Snøhetta, Studio T-Square, and HOK were selected to design the new stadium.
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Sep 16, 2010
Green recreation/wellness center targets physical, environmental health
The 151,000-sf recreation and wellness center at California State University’s Sacramento campus, called the WELL (for “wellness, education, leisure, lifestyle”), has a fitness center, café, indoor track, gymnasium, racquetball courts, educational and counseling space, the largest rock climbing wall in the CSU system.
| Sep 13, 2010
Stadium Scores Big with Cowboys' Fans
Jerry Jones, controversial billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, wanted the team's new stadium in Arlington, Texas, to really amp up the fan experience. The organization spent $1.2 billion building a massive three-million-sf arena that seats 80,000 (with room for another 20,000) and has more than 300 private suites, some at field level-a first for an NFL stadium.
| Aug 11, 2010
JE Dunn, Balfour Beatty among country's biggest institutional building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Institutional Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 International Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June
Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Hensel Phelps among the nation's 50 largest design-build contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Design-Build Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Bowdoin College has country's first newly constructed LEED-certified ice arena
Bowdoin College's new Sidney J. Watson Arena, dedicated January 18, 2009, has become the first newly constructed ice arena in the United States to earn coveted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
| Aug 11, 2010
Gilbane, Manhattan Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 50 largest K-12 school contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 K-12 School Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
