PAUL SETS SIGHTS ON CANDLESTICK'S LAST BOW

Paul McCartney has tossed up the possibility of headlining one last concert at Candlestick Park - where the Beatles played their final gig for a paying crowd in 1966 - before the stadium's date with the wrecking ball.

No one was more stunned than Mayor Ed Lee when McCartney floated the idea as he was about to take the stage at his recent Outside Lands festival appearance.

"And it was him who made the suggestion," Lee said. "Believe me, it wasn't something I, or anyone else, was expecting."

It all began when Lee - with about a half hour to kill - decided to check out how things were going at the festival in Golden Gate Park the evening of Aug. 10.

Lee was talking with Outside Lands promoter Gregg Perloff, who asked if he had a couple of minutes to meet with McCartney before the singer went on.

"Ah, Mayor Lee, what an honor," McCartney said. "I understand you are the first Asian mayor of the city."

"Thank you," Lee replied, "but I'm not sure it's quite as glamorous as being knighted."

Sir Paul put his thumb and forefinger almost together and said, "It's that much more."

The ice properly broken, city salesman Lee launched into the success of Outside Lands, then slid into another upcoming significant event - the end of Candlestick, and how the city was putting together photos and film footage to honor the Beatles' final concert.

"Oh, kind of like Shea Stadium," McCartney said, referring to the old New York ballpark where the Beatles played two of their most famous shows. "That sounds fantastic."

"Then," Lee said, "he looks at me and Phil Ginsburg" - general manager of the Recreation and Park Department - "and says, 'Well, if you are going to tear down the stadium next year, we should think about us doing the last concert there.' "

As Lee's and everyone else's jaw dropped, McCartney added, "You know my agent. Why don't we follow up with him?"

McCartney did this once before - at Shea Stadium, just before it was demolished in 2009. Then he and Billy Joel helped break in Citi Field, the New York Mets' replacement stadium.

If the Stick show does come together, it would be full circle from Aug. 29, 1966, when the Beatles played to a crowd of about 25,000 - well short of the stadium's pre-expansion capacity of 42,000.

Tickets went for $4.5o and $6.50, and the Beatles played for about 30 minutes.

When McCartney hit the stage at Outside Lands, an estimated 65,000 were on hand - at $75 to $105 a head. Over the three-day festival, the Recreation and Park Department netted $2.2 million.

A McCartney farewell show would grab international headlines - but it's only one of the many ideas in the works for turning the Candlestick tear-down into a boon for Rec and Park.

Forty-Niners owner Jed York has proposed selling team-autographed seats to benefit the city's parks programs once the team plays its final game there this season.

Lee has taken the memorabilia craze a step further - proposing that the city auction off the chunks of turf where Joe Montana and Dwight Clark hooked up for "the Catch" in 1982, sending the Niners to their first Super Bowl.

"I'm sure there is some multimillionaire out there who would like to have that kind bragging rights for his backyard," Lee said.