The Nob Hill hotel's owners are looking into a big-time condo conversion in the Fairmont tower, and the Tonga Room - with its tropical decor and Hurricane Bar - isn't included in the plans.

The Tonga Room is one of the nation's oldest tiki palaces, dating back to 1945 when MGM's top set director, Mel Melvin, was brought in to transform the Fairmont's indoor swimming pool into a nautical bar.

The result was a South Seas paradise - with a lagoon and a floating stage for the orchestra, a dance floor built from the remains of an old lumber schooner and even periodic tropical storms, complete with thunder and lightning.

The bar underwent a $1 million restoration last year, as the Fairmont's owners sought to ride the wave of the current tiki bar revival.

San Francisco Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner said city planners only recently got word of the Tonga Room's possible demise.

Officially, the hotel's owners, Maritz, Wolff and Co. (the real estate outfit headed by A's boss Lew Wolff), say the Tonga Room's fate has yet to be decided. But hotel reps tell us that as part of the Fairmont's makeover, they hope to move the downstairs Grand Ballroom to a more accessible spot off the main entrance.

And it's that move that would displace the Tonga Room - which means move it or lose it.

"The final outcome is being studied," said Susan Sagy, a spokeswoman for the project.

Round the hall: New 49ers president Jed York and his crew are working the corridors of City Hall in what may signal a renewed push to keep the team in San Francisco.

And maybe even bring the Raiders to the party as well.

Among the ideas on the table:

-- An $8 million to $10 million upgrade of aged Candlestick Park, to be done within two years - complete with a glassed-in club seating area off the south end zone.

-- A much more extensive, $500 million makeover of the 'Stick, with new luxury box seating and a new concourse with restaurants and other amenities.

-- Or even a brand new, $900 million-plus stadium at the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, as the city's Candlestick development plan envisions.

York and company met briefly last week with the mayor's chief development director, Michael Cohen, and hinted that after two years of focusing on building a new stadium in Santa Clara, the Niners were ready to start talking more seriously about their options in San Francisco.

York reportedly has told city officials that the team will have more to say on all three fronts when he meets with Mayor Gavin Newsom next week. That tete-a-tete might thaw the deep freeze that developed between the mayor's office and the team when Jed's dad, John York, was in charge.

In the meantime, the 49ers say the National Football League has asked San Francisco to expand the scope of the proposed Hunters Point stadium to accommodate both the 49ers and the Oakland Raiders, who also are searching for a new home. The NFL has asked Santa Clara to do the same.

The league has made it clear that sharing a site may be the only way to privately finance a new stadium in the Bay Area.

In addition to sitting down with Cohen, Jed York had breakfast with Supervisor Sean Elsbernd and met with both new board President David Chiu and Supervisor Carmen Chu.

This week, we're told, he has meetings scheduled with two other new supervisors, John Avalos and Eric Mar.

And while the team is still hoping to make a deal in Santa Clara, "our main goal is to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area," said Niners spokeswoman Lisa Lang. "The more options to make that happen, the better it is for the team, the fans and the community."

New faces: The stars and their entourages were out in force at last weekend's state Republican Party convention in Sacramento - with former top execs Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman making their glad-handing debuts as potential candidates.

Of the two, former Hewlett-Packard chief and possible U.S. Senate candidate Fiorina spent the most one-on-one time with party delegates. She made a point of hitting every meeting and sub-meeting of the GOP faithful - but, for now, is turning down all media interviews.

Word is that if Fiorina does run against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, she'll have a lot of East Coast money behind her.

Former eBay CEO Whitman, surrounded by a cadre of suits from Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns, took more of a "shock and awe" approach to the convention, saving herself for the "the big speech."

In that luncheon address, Whitman outlined what she would do as governor (be more business-friendly) and tried to explain why she hadn't voted in many past elections. (No real answer, but an apology.)

Ban to breakers: When all is said and done, runners in the Bay to Breakers will probably:

-- Be allowed to run naked.

-- Be able to have floats.

What won't be allowed:

-- Open drinking.

-- And really open drinking, from kegs on "floats."

And finally: "Who knows? It might give a whole new meaning to the smoking tent the governor has." - State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, on his proposal to legalize and tax marijuana.

EXTRA! Catch our new blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Phil can be seen on CBS-5 morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call them at (415) 777-8815 or drop them an e-mail at matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle