Taylor Price – 49ers.com

The rapid progress of the new Santa Clara Stadium is remarkable to say the least.

Project Executive Jack Hill estimates the future home of the San Francisco 49ers to be 15-percent complete with nearly 50-percent of the 14,000 pieces of steel already being inserted.

The nine-level building is already on the fifth level of construction with level six coming soon.

“The project’s going extremely well,” said Hill, who noted Northern California’s friendly weather being a huge benefit in the construction developments. “We’ve also had great cooperation from the sports authority, the city and all the entities involved.”

On-lookers of the stadium site will certainly recognize the physical appearance of the stadium from blocks away. That’s because 18,000 tons of steel are being inserted to support the 1.85 million square foot stadium.

Hill estimated 400 workers are on the site daily, an increase of more than 100 workers in the last month.

“The structural steel is somewhere between a third and a half complete,” Hill explained. “We’re up on the fifth level, headed to the sixth level of nine levels. Here shortly, we’ll be at the 50-percent mark of steel construction.”

The next stage of the project involves precast seating being placed on top of the steel.

“They’re being erected at the end of October,” Hill said. “Then, the frame will start filling in.”

The red 49ers seats, however, won’t be placed into the new building for some time.

In fact, the seats themselves are one of the last components of the project and are typically placed six to eight months prior to opening. That way, dust and wear and tear can’t ruin the seats.

While the steel is continued to being erected, Hill and the stadium designers are finishing up the interior design, including plans for the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., San Francisco Hall of Fame, which fans will see immediately when entering the building.

Located on the north end on Tasman Drive, the Hall of Fame is being constructed in conjunction with the 49ers Team Store.

“We have an exhibit designer on board,” Hill explained. “We have periodic meetings to finalize the design of the Hall of Fame. We think the fans are just going to be thrilled to see it.”

While it might be challenging to construct a Hall of Fame inside of a new stadium, Hill enjoys the challenge of creating important structures for 49ers fans to enjoy for years to come.

“It’ll be great,” Hill said of the Hall of Fame and team store. “There’s a lot of great things to see and do and we feel that it’s going to be very interactive with the fans. They’ll just love it.”

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