The 49ers stadium has been on the fast track for a 2014 opening since earlier this year, leading to a variety of make-ready work taking place in Santa Clara. Today, however, marks a significant step in the stadium process. The 49ers will officially "break ground" on the stadium site. The ceremony will take place from 5-6:30pm PT.
Construction crews have been present for several months now getting the site ready, but today marks the ceremonial shovel in the ground. I'm guessing we'll see something along the lines of a red and gold shovel for the event. I believe you will actually be able to watch some of the ground-breaking via a live online stream. The 49ers will have a construction camera that will be turned on during the ceremony. I'm actually thinking that between now and 2014 I should take a picture of the camera each day and put together some kind of time lapse of the construction. We'll see how the view looks.
I'll have an open thread later this afternoon for the ceremony with another reminder of the live stream. For now, we can just soak in the enjoyment that the big day is here. After nearly 15 years of trying to get a stadium built, the 49ers are in the drivers seat. Big congratulations are in order for Jed York, the entire organization and the city of Santa Clara for taking care of business and making this happen. I realize some folks are disappointed the team will not be in the San Francisco city limits, but a new stadium is a new stadium and we at least get to keep the team in the greater Bay Area.
Now let's just hope the team is playing in the Super Bowl they hope to be hosting!