SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – The San Francisco 49ers led the grand opening celebration for their new home, the $1.2-billion Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The new 1.8-million-square-foot stadium is located at 4900 Marie P. DeBartolo Way.
The 68,500-seat stadium will host its first sporting event Aug. 2. It is replacing Candlestick Park in San Francisco as the home of the 49ers. The Bay Area team played at that stadium for the past 43 years. Levi’s Stadium will also host the Pac-12 Conference’s annual Football Championship Game for at least the next three years.
Levi’s Stadium was built by Turner/Devcon for the Santa Clara Stadium Authority. It was designed by HNTB.
The new eco-friendly structure features a green roof with 544 solar panels that sits atop the suite tower on the stadium’s west side. It also contains three solar bridges that connect the main parking area to the stadium. These features will allow the stadium to be partially powered by solar energy. The goal, according to energy provider NRG, is to ultimately provide a net-zero energy use.
The stadium was built to achieve LEED-Gold certification. It is the first stadium in the nation(that is home to a professional football team)to incorporate LEED certification standards into its original design and architecture.