Coliseum's NFL football proposal hits new hurdles.

New doubts about the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's chances to become an NFL stadium emerged last week, with City Council members saying that other options should be considered and a state senator threatening to fight the proposal to renovate the venue because of labor issues.

Sen. Richard Polanco has sent a letter to City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas - the Coliseum's chief booster - saying he will organize opposition to the Coliseum reconstruction project unless its proponents end their involvement with Tokyo-based Kajima Corp.

Kajima has been embroiled in a labor dispute with workers at its New Otani Hotel downtown. It also owns a 15 percent share in St. Louis, Mo. - based HOK Inc., which designed plans for the Coliseum reconstruction.

"I respect the efforts you have made in working to bring NFL football back to Los Angeles," Polanco, D-Los Angeles, wrote to Ridley-Thomas in a letter dated Dec. 5 and obtained last week. "However, if a firm, wholly or partially, owned by Kajima is involved in the Coliseum project I will feel compelled to mobilize opposition."

Ridley-Thomas refused comment.

The Business Journal reported last week that Mayor Richard Riordan - once solidly behind the Coliseum proposal - was now open to other alternatives.

The mayor's shift comes in the wake of continued skepticism by some NFL owners to the Coliseum proposal and doubts over the feasibility of getting $100 million to $200 million in public subsidies for the project.

Despite pleas by city officials, the NFL has refused to rule out other sites.

"We're continuing to work with the Coliseum, but we're also looking at other possibilities," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "Our main focus continues to be on getting a stadium. And we don't care to discuss details at this time - specifics on what other sites we're talking about. But most people know the potential sites: Hollywood Park, Dodger Stadium, the South Park project. But we're open to all ideas at this point."

Polanco, who sits on the state Senate's Subcommittee on Sports and Professional Sports Teams, said his concerns about the Coliseum reach beyond Kajima's involvement in its design.

"I think if the NFL really wanted to come here to the Coliseum site, they could have come here already, and I think that has not been the case," Polanco said.

Supporters of rival plans for football stadiums at Hollywood Park, South Park (near the Convention Center) and Dodger Stadium agreed to support the Coliseum proposal last year, but that united front has begun to crumble, Polanco noted.

"I think the longer the NFL stays silent with regard to (the Coliseum), you will begin to see more activity by the promoters for other proposals," he added. "Hollywood Park is going to start picking up their effort. I think South Park is going to pick up their effort. I think an effort will start to pick up, if it hasn't already, for Dodger Stadium."

The L.A. City Council has been largely supportive of the Coliseum plan, but several members interviewed last week indicated that they are willing to look at alternatives as well.

"It has never seemed real to me," said Councilwoman Laura Chick. "It has seemed like lots of talk, and basically a football league that is not responding back. And since they're the ones deciding it, I guess I have not taken (the Coliseum plan) very seriously."

Said Councilman Richard Alarcon: "I've never closed the door to reviewing other proposals. I think it's fair to say the Coliseum is a top priority. That's not to preclude other proposals."

Councilman Joel Wachs, who fought to ensure that the new downtown Staples Center sports arena would not be publicly subsidized, said the same issue could thwart the Coliseum.

"I like the Coliseum. (But) it's not the only place. I'm far more concerned about the public subsidy," he said.

Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo was quoted in the Business Journal last week as saying that while Riordan still backs the Coliseum, "the mayor is a business-minded person and welcomes competition."

The disclosure angered Ridley-Thomas, and in the wake of the report, Riordan told reporters that he was still firmly behind the Coliseum - but acknowledged he is open to alternative proposals.

Mayoral aides sought to downplay the shift.

"The mayor has consistently supported the Coliseum as a site for professional football in Los Angeles," said Noelia Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Riordan, who was not available for comment late last week.

"And he also believes in competition, and if there are some other alternatives in Los Angeles that would be viable for the taxpayers of Los Angeles, then he would like to see what those options are," she added. "But at this moment the only thing on the table is the Coliseum."

Even so, other projects are waiting in the wings - including one proposal instigated by the mayor himself.

Following the departure of the NFL Raiders for Oakland, Riordan asked Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley to consider building a football stadium. O'Malley spent $1.5 million on design work, only to be asked by Riordan and Ridley-Thomas last year to set aside his plan to back the Coliseum.

But the Dodger plan may not be dead. An article in New Yorker magazine said News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, who is in the process of purchasing the Dodgers, is interested in building a football stadium adjacent to the ballpark.

Representatives for both O'Malley and News Corp. declined comment on a future football stadium adjacent to the Dodgers ballpark, but Councilman Mike Hernandez - whose district includes Dodger Stadium - said he continues to oppose the project.

"To me, Dodger Stadium's a pipe dream," Hernandez said. "The reality is that just the infrastructure cost to deal with the traffic mitigation and the parking lots is prohibitive to the project."

Hernandez said that in order for a football stadium to be built adjacent to Dodger Stadium, numerous zoning changes would have to be made and a conditional use permit would have to be issued.

"All of these things would take council action, and I don't see the council taking that action, no matter how many dollars are brought to the table," Hernandez said.

Proponents of the Dodger Stadium project, however, point out that the venue has better freeway access and more parking than the Coliseum. And because football games would not he scheduled at the same time as baseball games, the additional traffic impact would be negligible.

The council typically defers to the wishes of the district council member. Hernandez, however, is facing a recall as a result of his arrest on drug charges, raising some questions about his clout on the council.

So far, community activists in Dodger Stadium's neighborhood are echoing his concerns about the project.

"People who come into a sports venue come through our communities, and our streets are not equipped to handle this," said Jeb Brighouse, president of Neighbors of Dodger Stadium and a resident of nearby Echo Park. "It was a big mistake to put Dodger Stadium in Elysian Park in the first place."

Added Sallie Neubauer, president of Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park: "We're very concerned about any kind of development in that area because the park is tremendously impacted by Dodger events and just the roads that were put in for Dodger events. They've turned our park into a freeway half the time."