COLISEUM WELD FLAP HEATS UP : EACH EVENT NEEDS SAFETY CERTIFICATE.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Operating without a certificate of occupancy since its new press box opened in September, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been required to get event-by-event approval to use the facility and prime seating beneath the massive structure since May 8, officials said.

The order requiring the Coliseum's engineers to certify ``in their opinions'' that the press box is safe was issued after a former worker questioned the quality of the welds used in making the press box's steel skeleton, said Dave Heim, a Los Angeles city principal building inspector.

Since then, said Heim, the commission has received approval each time for regular use of the box.

``We are comfortable allowing occupancy on a case-by-case basis,'' Heim said. ``At this point we're allowing a normal number of people in there.''

The order will remain in effect until final test results are completed on the press box welds. That report could be done in 10 days, said Don Webb, the commission's project manager on the press box construction.

Webb said the initial ultrasound test results indicate a ``small handful'' of welds have ``anomalies'' that are characteristic of density differences in the welds.

The testing so far seems to indicate the welds are safe, Webb said. Heim said he had been told similar information in direct discussions with the independent testing agency reviewing the work.

Heim said the order was issued after city officials reviewed records and discovered the certificate of occupancy still hadn't been issued, nine months after the press box opened for use.

The holdup apparently has been one of paperwork.

Heim said it was because a report had not been turned in on the steel fabrication and installation, while Webb said the project engineer was awaiting a city-issued report that had not yet been sent.

Webb said it is not unusual for recently completed structures to operate without a certificate of occupancy for some time while paperwork is being completed.

The handling of the situation enraged one Coliseum Commission member, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who said that Chairman Roger Kozberg had engaged in a ``whitewash'' of press box safety questions.

Though the order for event-by-event approval was issued hours before a Coliseum Commission meeting May 8, only Kozberg had a copy of it during a lengthy discussion about the press box and its safety and did not directly discuss it, Yaroslavsky said.

``Your entire approach to the press box safety controversy has been appalling,'' Yaroslavsky wrote Friday in a letter to Kozberg. ``You have refused to ask critical questions and have shown no capacity for the independent inquiry that the public interest demands in this situation.''

Yaroslavsky wrote he had been informed that Kozberg had directed the order not be circulated to other commissioners because it would then become a public document and stir safety concerns.

Yaroslavsky called for a public meeting to discuss the order and related matters, and he asked to have a representative from the city Building and Safety Department present during the discussions to answer questions.

``It's outrageous,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``This is an incredibly important document. But they either don't care or are trying to whitewash it.''

Kozberg was on vacation in France and unavailable for comment, an assistant at his company said.

But Margaret Farnum, the Coliseum's chief administrative officer, said it was her fault the city's order was not more widely distributed, blaming the pressure of a hectic day for her not handing out copies.