Whole lot more corporations from elsewhere in SoCal will be getting those boxes

Man I hope the cap doesn’t go away… I like how creative you have to be to sign players.

Everyone I have talked to agrees that the best place in San Diego for a football stadium is right where it is now in Mission Valley. The main reason the Chargers have been looking elsewhere is because of the political and financial situation of the City of San Diego. The current location has great parking, and reasonable car and mass-transit access.

That got me to wondering why they don’t just modify Qualcomm stadium? If its just a matter of luxury boxes, couldn’t they just add another level of boxes? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to “remodel” the current stadium than build an entirely new one? It’s not like it’s falling apart, the thing is built out of concrete, it will be there forever if you don’t tear it down. I hear talk about how the stadium is decrepit, but I never have noticed that, and wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper to fix the current one than to build a new one? Any stadium engineers out there? Am I missing something?

My understanding is that the stadium is in poor enough repair that fixing it is going to be about as expensive as rebuilding it at this point. Having been there in the rain and seeing various leakings and drainage issues; it seems pretty shabby. I couldn’t find an article, but here is one quote:

As for San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, a league source said it is in serious disrepair, including crumbling concrete and substandard drainage which could make it unsafe very soon.

The Chargers original plan involved Condos and commercial real estate on the property to help offset the costs; but the city didn’t want to spend the money back then; the economic prospects are obviously more bleak today.

Discussion 3 years ago on Gaslamp:
http://www.gaslampball.com/2006/1/24/12157/3343#3250179
I emailed the Chargers front office and they had this to say:

While that idea was thrown around a few years ago, it has not come to
fruition. The main reason it has not happened is mainly because the
field itself is already on sea level. You know how when we have rains
and the SD River overflows? It’s usually talked about mostly by the
mall and anywhere where it impedes traffic?. Well, on those same rainy
days the water and sewage tunnels here at the stadium back up and
overflow. The simple fact we have not had a game on those days helps
the fact that no one realizes the stadium grounds get just as flooded as
much as mission valley and pacific beach area.
Small side note: 4 days after the last Super Bowl that was here – we
were hit with a tremendous rain storm that had the super bowl been one
week later – there were serious questions on if the game ever could have
been played here.
So no, the field will not be lowered to accommodate the lower field
seats. However those tickets down on that level are reduced for not
only Season Seat Purchases, but also single game sales as well

While we do hope to have a new stadium on the City agenda before it is
too late, you can make sure it will be the utmost state-of-the-art
facility that will have no obstructed view seats or anything to make
people wonder what is next to improve the facility

Thank you for you interest in the San Diego Chargers

And in one of the urinals there was a broncos sticker so everyone was peeing on broncos.