Although the game will play at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Super Bowl 50 will celebrate the festivities surrounding the event in San Francisco.
The SF venue created a stir when the city relocated a population of homeless people away from the Market Street location of Super Bowl City. The city faces another controversy now. The committee planning Super Bowl City requested that overhead Muni wires be removed. Taking down the catenary wires necessarily disrupts the routes of Muni’s streetcars and trackless trollies, reported the SF Examiner.
Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes the venue, said “Yeah, that’s real. The committee has been very open about it. They’ve said that’s what they want.”
The Super Bowl City’s website describes the event as a “family-friendly way for locals and visitors alike to enjoy the extravaganza …and will be designed to showcase the best the Bay Area has to offer, with interactive games and activities that highlight the region’s technological prowess, culinary excellence and cultural diversity, as well as celebrate the 50th Super Bowl and the Bay Area’s place in professional football history.”
The Examiner further reports that anonymous sources, who would not use their names for fear of reprisal from Mayor Ed Lee’s office, claim that removing the wires may cost a “seven-figure number” and demand “lots of overtime.”
The sources predict that bus lines and the F-Market & Wharves historic streetcar may be inoperable for weeks.