CLEANUP CREWS SWEEP INTO ARENA.

Byline: Alexa Haussler Staff Writer

Whew!

Thousands of people - from Los Angeles merchants and city leaders to out-of-town reporters and Democratic officials - breathed a collective sigh of relief Friday as workers tore down the convention hall inside the Staples Center a day after the Democratic National Convention ended.

``Thank the Lord, it's over,'' said Jack Serna, manager of a Winston Tires store across the street from the Staples Center that was damaged in June by rioters after the Lakers won the NBA championship.

Business owners and city officials had been waiting for this week for months, many fearing that protests and negative publicity might grip the city.

But four days later, most are calling the convention a success and are eager to return to business as usual.

``It went very well,'' said City Councilman Alex Padilla, who also was a delegate at the convention. ``I talked to people this last week from all over the country, and they were just blown away with how great of a time they had here in Los Angeles.''

Inside the Staples Center on Friday, workers vaccuumed confetti, tore up phone and electrical lines and hauled out materials from the arena that, only a matter of hours before, was packed with 35,000 people.

In the adjacent Convention Center, workers were dismantling news organizations' work booths.

``In a way, it's a little bit of a letdown, just because now you look around and the confetti's just slowly falling to the ground and it's really over,'' said Staples Center communications director Michael Roth.

Roth said it will take about 10 days for crews to fully clean up and move out of the Convention Center and Staples Center. The next two events scheduled for Staples Center are the Latin Grammy Awards on Sept. 13 and Barbra Streisand's final two concerts on Sept. 20 and 21.

``It's always a nice feeling to go home,'' said Reuters News Service cameraman Tipp McClure, who will head back to Washington, D.C., this weekend after joining 15,000 journalists who converged on Los Angeles for the convention. ``It's sort of a strange euphoria when you pack everything up.''

Danielle Avery of Virginia has been in Los Angeles for a month, volunteering for the Democratic News Service.

``I was here at the beginning, I was here during and I am here after,'' she said, surveying the aftermath of the convention Friday. ``And they pulled it off.''

Julie Green, director of communications for the DNC, stood inside the arena and watched crews starting to dismantle the massive stage below and makeshift television studios in the skyboxes above.

``It's been an arduous process, but I think very successful, and everyone just wants some time to relax,'' she said.

Green will go home to Washington, D.C, next week, where she already has decided what she will do first.

``Sleep,'' she said.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Convention officials Terry McAuliffe, left, and Lydia Camarillo sign a souvenir T-shirt for staffer Mark Pulido at the Staples Center on Friday. Above, Arnie Carrillo takes down a loaner fence.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer