The Athletics took a major leap forward on Thursday in their quest to build a new ballpark at the Howard Terminal location.
In a resounding 23-2 vote by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) in favor of removing port priority use from the site, the A's hopes of building a new park in Oakland are alive and well.
A's president Dave Kaval and Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf each joined Brodie Brazil and Bip Roberts on "A's Pregame Live" prior to Oakland's game against the Seattle Mariners, to discuss the significance of the huge vote, which -- if failed -- would have killed the project.
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"Yeah, it was an elimination game," Kaval said. "I know in the past we haven't had the best record in elimination games, so I was a little nervous this morning. But nonetheless, we got an incredible 23-2 win, overwhelmingly positive, more than we even thought. And I think it just builds a lot of momentum towards the next step, which is the city council vote hopefully before the end of the year."
"That is a decisive victory and a statement that people can have confidence that the due diligence has been done about this project," Schaaf said. "It is a job-maker, not a job taker."
The waterfront project not only will provide the A's with a beautiful state-of-the-art stadium, but would have an immense impact on the surrounding area, the city of Oakland and the entire Bay Area.
"You better believe, as a person that went through that very painful process with the Raiders, this process is great for Oakland," Schaaf said. "It will be great not just for ballpark fans, but for Oaklanders for generations to come who want access to the waterfront, public parks, affordable housing, good union jobs. All of that will be made possible by this ballpark deal."
"If we can make this happen, it's really going to transform, not only the A's and allow us to be a top-tier revenue club and invest in our players and keep our players and win more championships, but it's also going to have a lasting, positive impact on Oakland and the East Bay and the entire Bay Area," Kaval added.
Oakland Athletics
The New York Post's Josh Kosman reported on Monday that MLB will waive the relocation fee if the A's ended up moving to Las Vegas. With that report coming a few days before the latest vote on Thursday, that begs the question ... are the A's staying in Oakland?
"It's going to get figured out in the next six months and I think we're closer than we've ever been to getting a new ballpark built in Oakland and this has been a 25-year saga," Kaval explained. "Since we've spent the last four, five years working on Howard Terminal, an incredible vision that could really elevate the franchise and the city in a positive way. We just want to get along that finish line and bring A's baseball to the community for many generations to come."
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Thursday's vote certainly was great news for the A's, who moved one step closer to making their dream become a reality.
Many obstacles still remain, but things definitely are moving in the right direction.