There was an interesting article today in the Chronicle about the Coliseum that almost was back in November 1960. We've been so inundated the last few years with renderings of modern stadiums that weren't built, it's interesting to see something similar that eventually led to the stadium we've been playing in for the last 45 years.

Big difference of course was that the proto-Coliseum was definitely a different design, seemingly designed in the pedigree of Riverfront Stadium and Shea Stadium than the actual Coliseum's eventual below ground design. Also interesting was the capacities, 80,000 for football and 48,000 for baseball. The location however was the biggest difference. The proto-Coliseum would have been located on the shores of Lake Merritt, with views of the lake in addition to the east bay hills that we eventually did get, for a while. It was an interesting concept that had some drawbacks obviously being even more related to the reviled "donut clones" than our current stadium, but it also would have had some big pulses (no need for a Mt. Davis and far better location).

via blog.sfgate.com