L.A.'S LUXURY SUITE DREAMS BUT WILL NFL FOOT COLISEUM BILL?

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Hoping to make itself more attractive to NFL owners, the City Council agreed Friday to keep working on design plans and rules for alcohol sales at a renovated Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The council gave the City Attorney's Office, City Legislative Analyst's Office and Administrative Office until May 19 to put the final touches on historic architectural designs, signage plans and an alcohol-sales policy for the stadium, where officials hope to see a National Football League franchise playing by the 2009 season.

NFL owners will meet in Denver on May 22-23, when they could decide to grant Los Angeles an existing or expansion team.

``This is just the latest first down in our quest to keep the city economically, politically and structurally ready for the return of NFL football,'' said Councilman Bernard Parks, who has led the drive to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles.

The Raiders played at the Coliseum for 13 seasons before returning to Oakland in 1995. That was also the year the Los Angeles Rams, who actually were based in Anaheim, moved to St. Louis.

Parks, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, county Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke and other local leaders made a pitch Tuesday to a committee of NFL owners in Dallas, asking them to return pro football to Los Angeles.

The committee encouraged local officials to get the business community involved in the process. Villaraigosa met the next day at the Coliseum with local business leaders, while Parks gave a presentation early Friday to the First Friday Club during a breakfast meeting in Studio City.

The city's plan calls for building an $800 million, 67,000-seat stadium inside the facade of the historic Coliseum, which hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics.

Parks said he hopes to have a developer in place in June, after the NFL owners signal whether they will grant a team to Los Angeles.

``So many of the issues that are very relevant to all of this will be dealt with at the stage when a developer has been identified,'' he said.

The renovated Coliseum would have 200 luxury boxes and 15,000 club seats, according to Parks, who recently had breakfast with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

The stadium, which currently can hold 92,000 fans, would have a lower seating capacity but the flexibility to increase it for big events, such as Super Bowls or USC-UCLA matchups, Parks said.

Los Angeles officials hope the NFL will agree to pay for the Coliseum renovation.

Coliseum General Manager Pat Lynch said the NFL owners questioned Tuesday how a team owner could make money with a stadium built with no direct tax subsidy.

``That was their biggest concern -- how can you make this pencil out,'' Lynch told the City Council. ``They pressed us to get the business community involved and that's our mission over the next few weeks.''

Los Angeles, however, isn't the only Southland area hoping to lure an NFL franchise.

Anaheim envisions a stadium near Arrowhead Pond and Angel Stadium, and Pasadena also made a pitch Tuesday for an NFL team.

An initiative has qualified for the ballot in Pasadena that would give the NFL the right to play at the Rose Bowl for 25 years in exchange for a $500 million stadium renovation, $500,000 a year in rent and other considerations. Pasadena's bid, however, is considered a long shot, given the lack of enthusiasm among some city leaders.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the owners committee that Southern California should be considered for two NFL franchises, but league officials say they are concentrating on bringing one team to the region.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) These artist renderings show what the Los Angeles Coliseum could look like after $800 million worth of renovations.

(3 -- color) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Terrace Perspective

April 28, 2006