LA Coliseum—Decaying and Underutilized—Remains in Strict Public Control

State senator Jeff Denham (R-Atwater) published an Op-Ed in the LA Times Monday, calling for the sale of the coliseum by its public owners and the dissolution of the controversial Coliseum Commission. The LA Memorial Coliseum, built in 1932 for the Summer Olympiad, was registered as a historic landmark in 1984, the year of the Olympics' return to Los Angeles. But since a major retrofit that year, the stadium has been rapidly decaying and is used less and less frequently. The coliseum is owned by a confusing partnership between the city, the county, and the state - all of which have plunged into debt since the recession. The USC Trojans football team is the only large, long-term tenant at the stadium, and is desperate for a policy change.


Trojan fans will remember the anxiety-inducing negotiations last year that almost forced USC to temporarily play at rival UCLA's Pasadena Rose Bowl. When USC offered to buy into the coliseum's ownership, the commission not only refused, but threatened to evict the university as
a tenant. USC, frustrated with the government's inaction at the stadium's obvious disrepair, offered $100 million to help renovate (and partially own) the coliseum. Denham argues that the Trojans are the biggest stakeholders in the stadium and its future and should therefore have the right to own part or all of it.


Denham also reflects the growing confusion on the part of both lawmakers and the sports industry, as to why the debt-laden tripartite government "monster" would refuse a private investment for public gain. The Coliseum had hopes for outside intervention back in 2006 when Los Angeles bid to host the 2016 Olympic games - a US designation that was quickly and cruelly lost to Chicago. And for years politicians and developers alike have been struggling to attract a major league football team to return to the coliseum. But since the news of the cheaper and flashier stadium in City of Industry, that struggle has been rendered moot. Bottom line: the coliseum is a beautiful and much beloved historic landmark, but it is structurally unsafe and aesthetically dejected, and the public sector (all three of 'em) cannot afford to hold onto it, especially in these times.