Mayor Gavin Newsom briefed league officials Monday on the city's proposal to build a new stadium at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard along San Francisco Bay, a federal Superfund site long plagued by toxic pollution.

"It could be a special place, but the devil is in the details," NFL senior vice president Neil Glat said.

City officials have said the shipyard can be cleaned up in time to open a new stadium in 2012.

Niners owners favor a Santa Clara theme park parking lot south of the city as their top location, although Great America park officials recently announced they oppose the plan over concerns it could hurt their business.

"We're concerned about a loss of parking and the construction process to build a new stadium," said Stacy Frole, spokeswoman for Ohio-based Cedar Fair, which owns Great America.

The NFL cannot directly dictate where the 49ers build a new stadium, but historically the league has lent teams money for new arenas. Three-quarters of NFL teams also must approve a team's move.

"We expect that a new stadium will cost $854 million ... and that some of that will include an investment from the team ownership and hope some will come from a loan from the NFL," 49ers spokeswoman Lisa Lang said.

The 49ers announced in November they had abandoned a decade-long attempt to build a stadium at Candlestick Point, its San Francisco home since 1971, and planned to move to Santa Clara.

———