Coliseum Commission OKs Contract for Renovation Plans

The Los Angeles Coliseum Commission has hired a project manager and approved a $450,000-contract with architects as the plan to begin renovating the Coliseum next year moved forward with the support of its prime tenants, the Los Angeles Raiders and USC football.

But the timetable remains very tight for the $15-million first phase--lowering the Coliseum floor by 11 feet and installing 6,000 to 9,000 new seats closer to the field.

Kent Broyhill, coordinating the local work by HNTB architects, said Thursday that the plans would not be ready until Feb. 1 and that work would not begin until March 15, following six weeks of review by city departments and a bidding process for awarding the construction contract.

This schedule would leave just five months to finish the work in time for the beginning of 1993 Raider exhibition games in mid-August. A second phase, adding luxury suites and a new press box, would follow in 1994.

Broyhill also said that some questions regarding building code requirements remain to be settled with the city before the 1993 work can begin. Adding so many seats at lower levels creates problems for meeting safety requirements related to the amount of time needed to empty the stadium in case of an emergency.

Coliseum Commission President William Robertson seemed surprised by Broyhill’s remarks on Thursday and said the commission’s understanding was that plans will be finished early enough to allow construction to begin in February.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the commission decided to hire Don Webb, former financial vice president for the Spectacor partnership, the Coliseum’s private managers, to supervise the project at a salary of $15,000 a month. Webb was one of the originators two years ago of Coliseum renovation plans that have now been scaled back because of the lack of financing.

Robertson said he recently discussed the project’s progress with a Raiders representative, and both the Raiders and USC on Thursday issued statements supporting the planned renovation.

“The Raiders have been supportive of any attempt to renovate and modernize the Coliseum and make it a state-of-the-art facility,” said Amy Trask, a team lawyer.

Anthony Lazzaro, a USC vice president emeritus who represents the school at commission meetings, said the university has been involved in the planning but is concerned about the tight schedule for 1993.

“It’s optimistic on the part of anybody to feel they can complete the plans by February and have the work done by mid-August,” Lazzaro said. “It’s doable, but it means fast tracking, starting frankly within 60 days.”