GAMES PLAN LEAVES THE HISTORIC PORTION OF STADIUM UNTOUCHED.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

Staff Writer

Escalating their bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, organizers of the effort to bring the event back to Los Angeles unveiled plans Thursday for a $112 million temporary face-lift for L.A.'s Memorial Coliseum.

The plans call for private financing of enhancements that include 204 luxury boxes around the top rim of the historic stadium, guest amenities, sun shading and a track around the field.

The unveiling comes just days before L.A. is scheduled to host U.S. Olympic officials reviewing the city in its bid. The changes are needed to meet International Olympic Committee requirements for a host facility.

"This will be the crown jewel of the Olympics, as it was twice before," said Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games. "The Olympic torch is burning bright today, just as we hope it will in 2016."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa embraced the plans, developed by architect David Jay Flood over the past several months.

"The Coliseum has been the site of incredible events for more than 80 years, but it never shines brighter than during an Olympic Games," Villaraigosa said.

U.S. Olympic Committee officials are scheduled to start a two-day tour of Los Angeles next week and review plans that include an Olympic village at UCLA and use of established, new and proposed facilities such as Staples Center, the Galen Center at USC and the l.a.live project under construction downtown.

L.A.'s effort to host the games this time has won wide support, mainly because of the success of the 1984 Summer Games.

Those games poured millions of dollars into the local economy and realized a $235million profit that was used to create an endowment to fund amateur athletic events citywide. Officials say they think the 2016 Games, using the same model as the 1984 event, could bring in more than $1billion to the local economy.

Main part untouched

Under the plans, a series of columns holding a steel frame would be built around the rim of the Coliseum, excluding the peristyle end and the press-box area.

The columns would support 204 luxury boxes, each capable of holding 10 to 15 people, which would be sold as separate packages.

Designs of the suites were not released, but officials said plans call for construction of separate bathrooms and other amenities.

The main part of the Coliseum would not be affected by the work to avoid problems with the Los Angeles Conservancy and other preservationists.

"This is a state and national historic landmark now, and it will be after the games," Sanders said. "But it is also a working stadium, and we want to take advantage of that."

Plans also call for a temporary fill to raise the field and accommodate track-and-field events as well as opening and closing ceremonies, Sanders said. To do that, 13,000 of the Coliseum's 92,000 seats would be removed.

The estimated cost to rent a luxury box will not be released until USOC officials decide whether to nominate Los Angeles or Chicago as the U.S. city that will vie with international sites to host the games.

"Obviously, these will be our most expensive tickets, but we will be having a number of low-cost events and several free events," Sanders said. "Our hope is to spread the Olympic spirit throughout the region with events to be held everywhere."

All costs for the work would be covered by an Olympic Organizing Committee that would have to be formed to oversee planning for the event. Sanders said the work is needed to accommodate the IOC, which wants a showcase center for the games.

The frame for the Coliseum would be built off-site and assembled in the six months before the games, Flood said. He estimated it would take three months to disassemble after the games.

The Coliseum was built in the 1920s and hosted its first football game -- USC against Pomona College -- in 1921.

It became a symbol of the city and the then-struggling Olympic movement when L.A. hosted its first games in 1932 and, again, when it served as the principal venue for the 1984 edition. It was named a historic landmark in 1984.

In between, in addition to USC, it has served as home for UCLA football, the Los Angeles Dodgers in their first season in the city and several professional football teams -- from the Rams, Raiders and Chargers in the National Football League to the Los Angeles Express from the now-defunct U.S. Football League.

Site with many uses

It has served as the site for evangelical rallies by the Rev. Billy Graham and for events by Pope John Paul II and the Rev. Bishop Tutu of South Africa.

"It was an honor for us to work on a project in such a historic building," Flood said. "Rarely in architecture do we begin a design with an already historic structure. Our job in this case was to enhance, and we are enthusiastic about the result."

In recent years, there has been a renewed effort to bring the NFL back to L.A., and several proposals to remodel the Coliseum -- some with price tags in the $500 million to $700 million range -- have been proposed.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks said the plans proposed for the Coliseum's Olympic bid will not affect his efforts to negotiate with the NFL to bring a professional team back to the site.

Sanders said Olympic organizers would work with the NFL if the league does decide to return to L.A.

The Los Angeles Conservancy has threatened lawsuits over the years to block any major changes to the outside of the facility -- which is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks -- and has been working with the Coliseum on the new designs.

Officials with the conservancy said they have reviewed the plans proposed for the Olympics and see no problem with them.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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Revitalizing the Coliseum

Highlights of the plan to help lure the 2016 Olympic Games to Los Angeles:

$112 million in privately funded temporary enhancements

204 10- to 15-person luxury suites, pricing yet to be set

Removal of 13,000 of the Coliseum's 92,000 seats

Sun-shading around the Coliseum's perimeter

The structure of the venue listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks would not be permanently altered

Installation of a track around the field and guest amenities

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Olympic flame burns Thursday over the Coliseum as plans for its renovation are unveiled, part of the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Games.

(2) From left, architect David Jay Flood; Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games; and Councilman Bernard Parks unveil the Coliseum plan.

(3) The main section of the Coliseum, such as this panel, would not be affected by the changes proposed for the Olympics.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) This artist's rendering shows the sun shades as they would appear around the perimeter of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum as part of its $112 million temporary face-lift in the city's bid to win the 2016 Olympic Games.

Box:

Revitalizing the Coliseum (see text)