PASADENA – Despite a $12 million financing gap, the first phase of a three-year, $152 million Rose Bowl renovation – the largest construction project in the stadium’s 88-year-history – broke ground on Monday.
“It’s a tremendous milestone for us,” said Rose Bowl CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn. “We’ve been working toward this a long time. We know what we’re doing is the right thing to do for the stadium and for Pasadena.”
The project’s first phase, worth about $25 million, includes some press box construction, widening four tunnels behind the Court of Champions, replacing the north video board, reconstruction of a historic score board and adding aisles at the south end.
While the first phase will not be scaled down, the second and third phases could be in order to help make up for the financing gap, Dunn said. Stadium officials are looking at other ways to save money, such as leasing rather than purchasing field-level LED boards that would cost $2 million.
In addition, the efforts of Legacy Connections, a private philanthropic group that aims to raise up to $25 million for the renovation, have become more important as the projected shortfall has increased due to bond market conditions, Dunn said.
“We knew we were climbing a hill and it’s a little steeper” now, he said.
Representatives of nearby neighborhood associations, who entered last year into a Memorandum of Understanding over the renovation with Rose Bowl officials, said they are keeping a close eye on the project.
“It will be a challenging experience,” said Nina Chomsky, a board member and former president of the Linda Vista-Annendale Association, which drafted the MOU. “It’s not one of these in-and-out experiences. It’s going on for three years… That’s why we wanted to keep a handle (on it) with the MOU over time.”
Like any large construction project, recreationists and residents will notice large trucks, noise and dust. However, walkers, cyclists and others who recreate around the stadium can continue to do so, Dunn said.
A flagman will be stationed at Arroyo Boulevard and Seco Street to help clear the way for trucks, said Margo Mavridis, the renovation project’s director.
In the first phase, as many as 10 trucks a day might be entering and exiting the area, versus between 25 and 50 trucks a day during the locker room construction done at the stadium in 2006, Mavridis said.
Neighborhood association representatives met with stadium officials and contractors last week to ensure the contractors were aware of the MOU and how it should proceed, said Gordon Treweek, president of the East Arroyo Residents Association.
The residents are concerned with issues such as where the trucks will be staged, whether the trucks will sit idly in the area and how the project will be coordinated with construction work at Chandler School, he said.
“You’d be surprised at a construction project, how many good sense things aren’t followed,” Treweek said. “We want to make sure Brookside remains as a park while this construction goes on.”
Thousands of people use the Rose Bowl loop on a daily basis, he added.
“We want to make sure that they understand that that’s part of the routine there,” he said.
The renovation, due to be completed by January 2014, will ultimately expand the press box by increasing the number of premium seats from about 580 to about 2,400, Dunn said. In addition, the renovation will widen up to 12 access tunnels, double the number of concession stands and increase restrooms.
brenda.gazzar@sgvn.com
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