Facility, including a training field adjacent to land intended for the new stadium. In November 2010, Earthquakes ownership requested the City of San Jose for another amendment to the purchase option for the stadium site. The amendment reduces non-refundable option payments to the City by $2 million to $5 million as well as extends the option period from 2013 to 2015. If Earthquakes ownership closes on the property earlier, a reduction of $4 million in non-refundable option payments will occur. If the economic climate continues to preclude the implementation of the stadium, the option includes provisions for the City to consider allowing retail on the stadium site. On January 20, 2011, the Earthquakes submitted an application to the city for a development permit. Construction The San Jose Earthquakes held a demolition ceremony at the stadium site on March 3, 2011 to kick off a 12-week demolition in advance of construction. On December 14, 2011, the planning commission approved the permit for stadium construction, which was subsequently appealed by residents nearby the site. On February 22, 2012, the commission heard the appeal and voted unanimously to reject the appeal and finalize the approval of the construction permit. The team organization stated they still planned to open the stadium in 2014. The groundbreaking of the new stadium occurred on October 21, 2012, with 6,256 participants on hand digging into the ground, smashing the previous world record. An official Guinness World Records adjudicator was on site to verify the record. Earthquakes President Dave Kaval stated in a February 2013 interview that stadium construction would begin by February 26, with the stadium on track for completion by early 2014. However, while construction crews demolished and prepared the site for construction, they discovered three underground concrete bunkers and several hundred concrete pilings from the previous FMC factory. These obstacles caused the completion date for the stadium to be pushed back to July 2014. This was later revised to a scheduled completion date of early 2015. Demolition, grading, and the site utilities were installed by the middle of September 2013. The next steps in the process were the pouring of the foundations, followed by the steel erection. The first steps taken in building the actual structure of the stadium occurred on September 27, 2013, when concrete pouring of the team building and locker rooms took place. This was followed by the stadium foundations. The first steel