Rams’ temporary offices in Agoura Hills are open for (non-football) business
The Rams locker room in St. Louis being emptied on March 22 while packing boxes and moving vans were being loaded with equipment, office furniture and football gear for the team’s move to Los Angeles.
An actual-size model of a Warhammer robot stands just inside the door of the Rams’ new temporary offices in Agoura Hills.
The action figure was left behind by a video game company that occupied the space before the Rams officially opened for business in Southern California.
On Monday, the character was adorned in a No. 3 Rams jersey.
“It’s exciting for the staff to finally be together for the first time in an office space, to be the Los Angeles Rams,” Kevin Demoff, the team’s chief operating officer, said during a brief interview in his office. “It’s fantastic to have the group here and really laying the foundation for the 2016 season and beyond.”
The team’s marketing, ticketing, community relations, finance and administration departments are working out of the space with plans to move into a building next door by summer.
Demoff said the site would be home for 70 to 80 employees and would be “the hub of all non-football operations.”
The Agoura Hills location was selected, Demoff said, because it is not far from Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where the Rams will train for at least two years.
“We needed to find a business operations space that was somewhat close and convenient,” he said, “so you could go back and forth between the two facilities.”
A “sales preview center” will be built elsewhere, likely on the Westside, Demoff said.
“We’ll be in our cars a lot,” he said, “but this is home base for now.”
The Rams ultimately will build a permanent training facility that will house all football and non-football departments. The Thousand Oaks region is among those that will be considered.
Meanwhile, up the 101 Freeway in Oxnard, Coach Jeff Fisher and General Manager Les Snead were preparing for the start of formal draft meetings, which begin Tuesday.
The Rams have the 15th pick, two second-round picks and slots in the third, fourth and sixth rounds.
The Rams are encamped at a sprawling hotel that has served as a training camp site for the Dallas Cowboys. The Rams will hold off-season workouts and organized team activities (OTAs) at the facility from April 18 through June.
“It’s a nice bonding experience,” Snead said Monday. “You’re off the campus, you’re off to draft meetings and preparing for OTAs.”
The training facility includes two football fields, a locker room, a module equipment room and two large white tents that house the weight room and training room.
“The tent setup is as good as we had hoped for,” said Rock Gullickson, the Rams’ strength and conditioning coach. “The footprint is almost identical to Rams Park back in St. Louis, so everything fit in just fine.
“And with the weather here, I think the guys are really going to enjoy it.”
Twitter: @latimesklein
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