Owner Offers Deal to Get Out of Candlestick Park : Giants Want to Use Oakland Coliseum

SAN FRANCISCO —  San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie said today that he has offered the city a cash settlement of “several million dollars” to end the team’s lease at Candlestick Park and proposed that the Giants share the Oakland Coliseum with the A’s beginning next season.

Lurie said at a news conference that San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein is willing to negotiate a lease settlement and that Board of Supervisors President John L. Molinari also will support the plan.

Lurie said the Coliseum would be a temporary home for the Giants while San Francisco continues to work toward building a downtown baseball stadium to replace windy, chilly Candlestick Park.

“The San Francisco Giants will not, under my ownership, play at Candlestick Park beyond this season,” Lurie said. He called the plan “the last chance we all have to do something for Giants fans,” and he asked for swift approval.

“I challenge those who have the authority and the power to make this solution happen to do so with enthusiasm and with a sense of urgency,” Lurie said.

Hopes for Support

Oakland A’s President Roy Eisenhardt and Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth were aware of his intentions, Lurie said, expressing optimism that they will support the move.

Lurie said he had had a recent discussion with Eisenhardt about sharing the Coliseum “on a temporary basis.” Eisenhardt was not available in his office for comment.

Talks earlier this year about a proposed new stadium in San Jose, about 50 miles south of San Francisco, broke off when Feinstein threatened legal action.

The Giants’ lease at Candlestick Park runs through 1994. The Oakland A’s recently negotiated a lease with the Coliseum that has an exclusivity clause.

Oakland has outdrawn the Giants for the last five years. San Francisco will not reach 1 million in attendance this season for the first time since 1977, discounting the strike season of 1981. The A’s surpassed the 1.3 million.