One of the most famous sports monuments in America today, the Los Angeles Coliseum boasts a long and noted past.
The fabled history of the Coliseum spans seven decades and is the only facility in the world to have hosted two Olympiads, two Super Bowls, and a World Series.
In 1984, the State of California and the U.S. Government declared the Coliseum a State and National Historical Landmark.
The Coliseum has hosted a variety of globally important events, including the 1988 Amnesty International Tour, 1987 Papal mass (the first-ever papal visit to L.A.), and the Billy Graham Crusade, which set an all-time attendance record of 134,254.
"It came as no surprise when the Coliseum was named a California and U.S. historical landmark in 1984. Home at one time or another for the Los Angeles Rams, Raiders and Dodgers, the Southern Cal Trojans and the UCLA Bruins, as well as the centerpiece for the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, the Coliseum was the oldest NFL stadium and has been the stage for some of the most memorable sporting events of the 20th century.
Still, the Coliseum is close to obsolete. The Northridge earthquake in January 1994 did major, but reparable, structural damage, and more than a few fans - and Raiders' boss Al Davis - probably think it didn't go far enough.
Attempts have been made to upgrade the old lady since the Raiders moved here in 1982, but the Coliseum still has some seats in another area code. And there's not a luxuary box in sight - good news for purists, bad news for the NFL. The Raiders annual attempts at negotiating a sweetheart deal with other cities have yet to succeed, until 1995 no one has volunteered to build a stadium in L.A., so the Coliseum remains....."
As written by The Sports Staff of USA TODAY in "The Complete Four Sport Stadium Guide" for Fodor's Sports
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is one of the greatest --and largest-- stadiums in America. It combines the traditional and the modern into a premier athletic environment.
USC has played football in the Coliseum ever since the grand stadium was built in 1923. In fact, the Trojans played in the first football game ever held there (beating Pomona College, 23-7, on Oct. 6, 1923).
Construction on the Coliseum took less than 2 years, with ground breaking ceremonies held on Dec. 21, 1921, and work completed on May 1, 1923. Initial construction costs were $800,000.
The Coliseum was the site of the 1932 Olympic Games and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track events of the 1984 Olympics. Over the years, the Coliseum has been home to many sports teams besides the Trojans, including UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams and Raiders football, and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. The Coliseum has hosted various other events, from concerts and speeches to track meets and motorcycle races.
Prior to the 1993 football season, the Coliseum underwent a $15 million renovation. The Coliseum's floor was lowered 11 feet and the running track was removed to create a more intimate stadium. Fourteen new rows of seats (approximately 8,000 seats) were added down low, bringing fans closer to the playing field (the first rows of seats between the goalposts are a maximum of 54 feet from the sideline, instead of the previous 120 feet). During this renovation, the lockerrooms and public restrooms were also upgraded.
Southern California's damaging January, 1994 earthquake hit the Coliseum hard, requiring some $93 million of repairs. And, in the summer of 1995, a new $6 million press box was constructed.
The Coliseum has a present full-capacity of 94,159 seats (almost all are chair-back seats). However, for most USC games, a retractable fabric covers many seats, bringing the Coliseum's capacity to about 68,000. There are approximately 25,000 seats from goal line to goal line, including both the north and south sides.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
by
Chris Epting
Here's an excerpt from the book's Introduction...
I am sitting in Section 6, Row 44, Seat 1 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. While I am the only one here, I have seen the stadium packed with 90,000 strong. Yet somehow, empty on this breezy spring day, it is no less dramatic.
I was interested in doing this book to document not just the well-known events that occurred here, but also the lesser-known events. Because it's the combination of both that give one a full appreciation of this site. It's what separates this grand stadium from others. It's what, I believe, lets you make a case for Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the most historic stadium in America (If not the world.)
No other place has hosted two Olympiads. Two Super Bowls. A World Series. Countless classic college football matchups featuring both USC and UCLA. The Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Coliseum hosted six professional football teams (The Rams, Dons, Chargers and Raiders of the NFL, the Express of the USFL and the Extreme of the short-lived XFL.) The Aztecs Soccer team. And dozens of world-class track events.
There have been landmark appearances by John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, F.D.R., Charles Lindbergh, General Patton, Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II. The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, and The Who.
Not to mention Evel Knievel, The Harlem Globetrotters (in front of the largest United States basketball crowd on record), prizefighter Jack Dempsey, tennis great Don Budge, football star Red Grange, baseball icons such as Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial.
And the motocross, skiing, ice skating, rodeos, boat shows, circuses, fireworks shows, Pontifical Masses, auto races, Boy Scout jamborees… It is staggering. And it is significant...
...It's getting late now, so I guess it's time to go. I think I'll walk down on that famous field. Up those stairs. And out through the Peristyle arches. Where I'll get goosebumps. Like I always do when I leave this illustrious place.
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The Coliseum is located on 17 acres in Exposition Park, which also houses museums, gardens and the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
The fabled history of the Coliseum spans seven decades and is the only facility in the world to have hosted two Olympiads, two Super Bowls, and a World Series.
In 1984, the State of California and the U.S. Government declared the Coliseum a State and National Historical Landmark.
The Coliseum has hosted a variety of globally important events, including the 1988 Amnesty International Tour, 1987 Papal mass (the first-ever papal visit to L.A.), and the Billy Graham Crusade, which set an all-time attendance record of 134,254.
The Coliseum's general offices are located at the south side of the peristyle end and are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on game day. The USC Game Management Office on game day only is at the north side of the peristyle end. The will call booth is located outside the fence at Gate 4. Identification is required to claim tickets left under a specific name. The booth opens three hours prior to kickoff and closes at the end of the first quarter.
The first aid station is located on the concourse opposite Stairway 6. A Goodhew ambulance is available at the Coliseum to transport cases requiring further treatment. Paramedics are stationed at Tunnels 6, 14, 29 and Stairway 23. Doctors expecting an emergency call must register their seat location at the Coliseum office. A messenger will be sent to notify doctors of emergency calls; doctors will not be paged over the public address system.
The police suabtation is located at Tunnel 14 and is manned by LAPD officers from the Southwest Division. There are also roaming officers and T-shirted security personnel working in and around the Coliseum.
Items that are found should be taken to the Administrative Office at the peristyle end or to the police suabtation at Tunnel 14. People who have lost something should check back at the Administrative Office a couple of days after the event to see if it has been found.
Source: University of Southern California Sports Information Office
October 31, 1996 - Los Angeles Daily News - In sharp reversal of its earlier postion, an NFL committee told Los Angeles officials to move ahead with plans to try to revive the Coliseum as a potential home for a professional football team.
After a 90-minute presentation yesterday to the NFL's stadium committee, league and local officials said it is now up to the city to find a private group of investors who would be able to finance the Coliseum's remodeling and be able to support an NFL franchise.
NFL officials in the past have made it clear they had no desire to return to the Coliseum, which has lost three professional football teams - the Chargers, Rams and Raiders.
Part of the reluctance was the politics of the Coliseum Commission, which had promised to make changes for Raiders owner Al Davis and never did so, as well as the age of the facility, its location and the lack of parking.
THE ULTIMATE SPORTS ROAD TRIP
By: Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell
December 1, 2007 - After visiting so many storied and old college football venues,we have been kind of getting used to the same formula - a building that was built somewhere in the early 1900s as a 10,000 seat stadium, then added onto, expanded here and there etc. etc. to bring it to its current form. And in most places, the demarcation lines of those expansions are readily apparent.
Not so in South Central L.A.! This stadium was built and opened in 1923 as the grand edifice you see today, and since the building's inception the University of Southern California Trojans have called this place home.
The signature of this stadium are the arches and colonnades at the east end zone as well as the Olympic cauldron. Yes this stadium was the home of the 1932 Olympics, and also hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics, as well as some track and field events. The stadium has also hosted numerous Super Bowls, for a short time was the home for the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as the NFL Los Angeles Raiders. Today the USC Trojans are the sole tenant.
In 1993 the stadium underwent a massive renovation. The field was lowered 11 feet and seats were added to give the playing surface a more intimate feel. The outside concourses of the stadium were built outward, yet the nostalgic aisle arches and creeping ivy still give this place its charm. And while the stadium can seat almost 92,000, they have tarped over the seating in the east end zone and erected bleachers in front of this area instead, to give the venue a semblance of intimacy and lowering capacity to just under 70,000.
Much is made of this allegedly horrific and scary neighborhood surrounding the venue but that is largely a myth. The stadium sits amidst a pretty parkland named "Exposition Park" and next door is the L.A. Sports Arena, once home to the NBA Los Angeles Clippers. Numerous smaller sports venues and museums also surround the venue, and directly north is the USC campus.
Parking here is a bitch, and we were shocked at they eye popping prices that the private lots were commanding. Definitely have a strategy if attending a game here. Or plan to pay a cheaper price and prepare for a long walk. The limited lots nearest the stadium are reserved for the most generous of athletic benefactors and VIPs.
On our visit USC was playing its arch rival UCLA and at stake was nothing short of a berth in the Rose Bowl. So needless to say anticipation was running high for this game. The Trojans have an arrogant swagger that surrounds the entire program, after achieving all the success on the field in recent years. An no surprise - they easily dispatched the Bruins by a 24-7 score on this day.
The talk on this day was that the Trojans might have played their last game in the Coliseum, as their lease has expired and progress on a new deal is slow. The NFL is lurking in the shadows, coveting the site as a new home for a pro team. But as the week wore on, we learned that the folks in Pasadena weren't exactly enthralled at the idea of inviting the hated Trojans to play at the Rose Bowl. Our guess is that a deal will get done.
LA COLISEUM COULD BE SOLD TO RAISE CASH FOR STATE
May 14, 2009
Copyright 2009 MediaVentures
Los Angeles, Calif. - The Los Angeles Coliseum and fairgrounds in Sacramento that could be
the future home of an arena for the NBA Kings could be sold along with other properties to raise
cash for the State of California.
Sale of the properties, to be included in the governor's revised budget plan, would raise
between $600 million and $1 billion, although it would not provide financial relief for two to five
years, according to the proposal.
It is not clear whether lawmakers would be willing to part with the real estate the governor has
identified. Proposals to sell San Quentin and the Coliseum have not advanced in the Legislature in
recent weeks.
Most of the large properties the state would sell, including the 30 acres that contain the
Coliseum and the Sports Arena, are controlled by District Agricultural Associations, state entities
run by boards appointed by the governor. Officials said they wanted to sell the Coliseum land and buildings. The state is a part-owner of the buildings, and officials said they were still researching
the stakes of other owners.
The Coliseum Commission currently leases the land from the local agricultural association and
subleases it to USC.
It's not clear how a Cal Expo sale would impact plans for a new arena. The current arena plan
would gradually convert hundreds of acres of vacant land and the state fairgrounds to restaurants,
retail, hotels and residences. The land would remain a leased public asset with development
coming from private money. Taxes from the businesses planted there would build a new arena for
the Kings and new facilities for the fair. But if project fell apart, taxpayers obligated to pick up the
pieces.
Although the plan has been sold as a tax-free option, the arena would be built first. That would
mean borrowing against future taxes Š something only a public agency can do.
VALUE OF COLISEUM DEBATED
May 21, 2009
Copyright 2009 MediaVentures
Los Angeles, Calif. - Observers in Los Angeles are questioning how much money can be raised
for state coffers under a plan to sell the Los Angeles Coliseum and other property to make up for
shortfalls in revenue.
Previous estimates say the Coliseum land is worth $16 million, but there have been no firm
reports on how much the aging venue is worth. The Coliseum Commission that oversees the
building earlier rejected a $100 million renovation proposal from the venueÕs main tenant, the
University of Souther California, that gave control of the building to the school. The commission
rents the building to the school in exchange for eight percent of ticket sales.
School officials say they might be interested in buying the stadium at the right price.
Commission officials say they arenÕt interested in selling.
In signing a long-term lease with the Coliseum Commission a year ago, USC agreed to allow
the commission to use its name and logos to sell naming rights to the stadium, provided the money
generated would be used to upgrade the venue. Various commission members expected such a
deal to produce $6 million to $8 million a year.
Starting in 2010, if the renovation is not on track, the school can either opt out of the 25-year
lease or pay for the upgrades itself and be repaid with interest.
