Los Angeles Football Stadium Proposals

[tanzirian]

Originally Posted by milquetoast

I like the concept of an outdoor venue .... kinda like the hotels in Honolulu that have lobbies that are open to the street .... but it's not as substantial as the others. Not for the price they are paying, or we will have to pay.

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If the ground infrastructure were first class, a kind of well designed, well constructed theatre-in-the-round type of layout, something that could take the weather well, and didn't resemble bleachers that were pulled up into position in a temporary fashion, then I could go for the slip-cover skeleton concept.

(Which may look like The Flying Nun but is responsible for the project now being called "Maxi-Pad Stadium".)

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I don't think there is anything like it in the country, which is nice, but this is the type of thing that Koolhaas tried with the County Museum and it could very easily come off looking cheap. It reminds me of the stadiums that theme parks use for their shows, with the fabric shading the seats. No one really knows how it's going to look until the plastic skin is deployed.

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The area has plenty of room the way they illustrated it and the stadium could stand to be a bit bigger, but the temporary feel this design forces on the viewer might not be forgiven, and the interior doesn't look well thought out.

This is 1.3 Billion? Fuck,that's my question! This is what Los Angeles gets for 1.3 Billion?

I've got nothing against something even better, and I agree that better stadiums have been built for a lot less than $1.1 billion...but part of that cost has to do with building anything in Calfornia, with numerous regulations and standards to meet, relatively high taxes and fees, as well as logistics associated with the location itself.

With regard to the roof...in a place with weather as mild as LA's, something more substantial may be unnecessary. All one needs is protection from an occasional light shower. In Dallas there are frequent downpours including thunder storms, burning hot summer sunshine, occasional hail or snow, and perhaps even a freak tornado or two. So a more solid roof is a good option. In LA, that might be money down the drain.

With regard to the bleachers...they seem fine to me, but I don't know enough about the engineering to make an informed response.

[saiholmes]

[milquetoast]

I'm not sure I can be any more angry.
I'd point out to you all the cheap shortcuts
and missed opportunities, but you don't want that.

But I do want to fucking punch Leiweke in his tooth.

[PotatoGuy]

I agree robustly with you milquetoast; they have the opportunity to redevelop this entire little corner of downtown, and sure they're adding nice looking buildings (the stadium isn't AMAZING) but it's still more of the same, that whole area to the West of the development is nothing but parking structure, that's awful! I mean, yes, parking is of course a necessity and enough parking space should be built, but that's still a lot of space that could be better utilized

[PotatoGuy]

also, I meant to post that video as well, saiholmes beat me to it, damn you time difference !

[pesto]

Originally Posted by tanzirian

I've got nothing against something even better, and I agree that better stadiums have been built for a lot less than $1.1 billion...but part of that cost has to do with building anything in Calfornia, with numerous regulations and standards to meet, relatively high taxes and fees, as well as logistics associated with the location itself.

With regard to the roof...in a place with weather as mild as LA's, something more substantial may be unnecessary. All one needs is protection from an occasional light shower. In Dallas there are frequent downpours including thunder storms, burning hot summer sunshine, occasional hail or snow, and perhaps even a freak tornado or two. So a more solid roof is a good option. In LA, that might be money down the drain.

With regard to the bleachers...they seem fine to me, but I don't know enough about the engineering to make an informed response.

Weather is surprisingly irrelevant since Green Bay, Chicago, Buffalo and other very cold cities have uncovered stadiums, and in hot climates you can play in the evening. In California a covered stadium is just ludicrous (check out SF, SJ, Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Pasadena, the Coliseum, SD, Anaheim).

But there's always some set of idiots who think of their city as not being cool unless they have a domed stadium, preferably with monumental architecture. They have drunk the NFL Kool-aid. This is bad enough among smaller cities, but now spreading to big cities as well.

[croyboy]

they should add another level to the parking structures and make the whole 1st level into retail/restaurant... or anything to cover up the cars. it's like looking South-East from Angels Flight.. lot's of nice historic buildings surrounded by parking structures in need of better facades.

[soup or man]

Originally Posted by PotatoGuy

I agree robustly with you milquetoast; they have the opportunity to redevelop this entire little corner of downtown, and sure they're adding nice looking buildings (the stadium isn't AMAZING) but it's still more of the same, that whole area to the West of the development is nothing but parking structure, that's awful! I mean, yes, parking is of course a necessity and enough parking space should be built, but that's still a lot of space that could be better utilized

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The area west of the development is the 110. I'm not sure what you mean.

[ryebreadraz]

It looks like today went off without a hitch downtown. Traffic officials and the police are saying that there were no major backups despite the two games at Staples, the Tour of California and now the Dodger game. You can bet the AEG will be using this time and time again to show that major, major traffic like that for a football game can be handled, even if it's obviously not a perfect comparison.

[klamedia]

Saw tons of people on transit on my way to LB Pride. Raise the rates of parking by eliminating parking minimums and we'll see even more.

[GarfieldPark]

Pesto: "Weather is surprisingly irrelevant since Green Bay, Chicago, Buffalo and other very cold cities have uncovered stadiums, and in hot climates you can play in the evening. In California a covered stadium is just ludicrous (check out SF, SJ, Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Pasadena, the Coliseum, SD, Anaheim).

But there's always some set of idiots who think of their city as not being cool unless they have a domed stadium, preferably with monumental architecture. They have drunk the NFL Kool-aid. This is bad enough among smaller cities, but now spreading to big cities as well."


Everyone knows the weather in southern California is pretty much beautiful most of the year (aside from some heavy smog days on occasion). I don't think the need to have a roof on the structure is anything that is necessarily being pushed real hard by the NFL - at least with regard to a facility that is capable of handling regular season NFL games. And I don't think its necessarily some type of "cool factor" that is driving the demand for a domed stadium either.

I would think it is primarily an issue that local strategists are thinking about with regard to landing events like the NCAA Final Four - and for hosting huge conventions. A final Four will not go somewhere - even in a very dry climate - if they don't have a roof over the court. Also - since the Stadium is linked to the convention center - this facility is considered an extension of the convention center. If LA wants to attract a 45,000 person convention and needs to have 1,000,000 sq feet of space under roof -- they will not be able to do that if they don't cover the stadium. It'll probably add another 200,000 - 250,000 sq. feet of space to the convention center. Without a roof on the space - they can only advertise that they have 750,000 sq. feet (I'm just making up these approximate numbers - so don't get all over me if I'm "off" on the exact square footage - I'm just trying to make a point) - and probably will not be able to land as many of the extra large conventions.

The NFL's Super Bowl site selection committee may or may not want to feel secure in having a covered facility in the future. I'm not sure about this. When Miami last hosted in '09 - the game was played in a down pour. I doubt if the NFL was very happy about that - and it might have an influence in the selection of future sites that do not have fields that are covered.

S. Cal is different from Miami in that it is much drier -- however, you never know. A roof gives the assurance that you will have dry temps in the low 70's at game time - no matter what is going on outside.

[ryebreadraz]

The roof has nothing to do with football. The NFL couldn't care less about it besides it making the finances work because of the non-football events it will allow the stadium to hold.

[milquetoast]

What is the status on astro turf?
It ain't California if it has it!

[pesto]

Originally Posted by ryebreadraz

It looks like today went off without a hitch downtown. Traffic officials and the police are saying that there were no major backups despite the two games at Staples, the Tour of California and now the Dodger game. You can bet the AEG will be using this time and time again to show that major, major traffic like that for a football game can be handled, even if it's obviously not a perfect comparison.

It turns out there was virtually nobody at the Tour of California so there is no comparsion.

AEG has been less than helpful in this process, predicting 100k downtown and their post-event reports claimed there were "massive" crowds. But even including shoppers and random people on the street, there is no way there were more than a couple of thousand at the finish and maybe an equal number scattered in small groups along the downtown parts of the route. The last Laker championship parade had easily 100 times as many people.

By the time I left, only a few people in King's gear were showing up. By then the bike crowd was well dispersed.

[pesto]

If there is anyone who believes that the NFL mentality and the small town football fan mentality is that any old stadium is fine, you should read the blogs (dozens of them). The talk is always about the size, the features, the boxes, the roof, the architecture, how much money was spent, etc. (This makes sense, since the quality of the team is irrelevant to the stadium, so what else will you talk about?).

The most recent discussion was Minneapolis, where the supporters are just busting with pride that they are getting a new stadium and that rivals GB and Chicago have shitty old stadiums. The push for a roof (fixed or retractable) is now on. Conversely, the GB and Chicago blogs talk about how soft the Minnesota fans are, using using rather strong and offensive language.

"Other uses" are rarely mentioned and only tossed in as after-thoughts, since even for a mid-sized city, Final Fours and World Cups don't float anybody's boat.

These are small town civic pride issues, just like a train station was 150 years ago, a WPA post office 80 years ago, or an "international" airport more recently. Only it tends to make the owners richer. That's what I mean about the NFL Kool Aid.

Drink deep; it goes quicker that way.

[milquetoast]

I'm not one for Kool-aid,
but I'll drink that Kool-aid if the Kool-aid's any good!
This seems to be rather shitty Kool-aid that everyone
is being foced to drink, and the stomach ache will last
about 30 years!

I swear to God I'm going to be very upset if this plastic
roof is keeping a turd from getting soggy!!

[soup or man]

[pesto]

Originally Posted by soup or man

Looks like Staples is going to have to redo their roof sign. Maybe red and bigger letters. Would a flashing sign pointed upward would require FAA approval.

[klamedia]

A flash sign pointed upward to whom? God?

[klamedia]

Originally Posted by milquetoast

I'm not one for Kool-aid,
but I'll drink that Kool-aid if the Kool-aid's any good!
This seems to be rather shitty Kool-aid that everyone
is being foced to drink, and the stomach ache will last
about 30 years!

I swear to God I'm going to be very upset if this plastic
roof is keeping a turd from getting soggy!!

Turds need to stay dry. Ain't the market grand?