Coliseum would be enhanced

Consider it an Olympic-sized task: Dressing up, and modernizing the historic Coliseum without leaving any lasting fingerprints.

Results of the careful balancing act were unveiled with plans for a $112-million temporary renovation of the 84-year-old facility, announced Thursday by the group attempting to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Los Angeles.

The cost, which includes $20 million for installation of a running track, would be covered by Olympic revenues, according to bid chairman Barry Sanders.

Since the Coliseum, with its historic landmark status, cannot be permanently changed, the project team put forth a design that suspends 204 luxury suites over the existing rim. Capacity would be approximately 83,000, down from the current 92,000.

“This came to me at 3 in the morning. What the hell do I do here?” architect Jay Flood said after a news conference at the Coliseum. “And that’s the truth. Working with my committee, they were very encouraging on this and when they saw the images we came up with, they were ecstatic. A layering with the new with the old. The temporary aspect allows a lot of flexibility.”

There is also a Southern California element -- sun shades. The vinyl fabric shades, sitting atop a steel “space frame” that would encircle most of the venue, cover about 70 rows of seating. This steel superstructure would also support the luxury suites. The torch and peristyle would remain untouched and uncovered. In addition, the stadium floor would be raised 10 feet for the track.

Temporary enhancements to the Coliseum, which was the main Olympic stadium when Los Angeles was host to the Games in 1932 and 1984, are key elements of the city’s bid to become the U.S. candidate. In less than a week, an 11-member United States Olympic Committee (USOC) evaluation committee will be here for a three-day visit before traveling to Chicago, March 5-7.

Chicago’s temporary stadium, located in Washington Park on the city’s south side, would seat 80,000 and be downsized to 5,000 following the Games, costing an estimated $366 million.

The USOC will decide between Chicago and Los Angeles on April 14. Competition between the cities is taking on some of the qualities of a political campaign. Chicago bid chairman Patrick G. Ryan was quoted by the Associated Press, speaking about the difference between the two cities.

“Los Angeles will host the Games in existing facilities. They’ll look the same before, during and after,” Ryan said Thursday in Chicago.

The architectural plan for the Coliseum suggested otherwise.

“In 2016, the newly designed Coliseum will glow spectacularly,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement.

Said Sanders: “It’s already very, very good. But it doesn’t have a sunshade. It doesn’t have luxury suites and it will. But is it good? This is great.”

The plans, of course, are contingent on Los Angeles’ selection by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2009. Potential competition could include Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Rome or Milan, among others.

The arrival of an NFL team to play in the Coliseum could make the issue of a temporary renovation a moot point.

A successful Los Angeles bid means construction would start in January 2016. Officials said that, after the Games, it would take about three months to restore the Coliseum to its familiar image. The time frame would run into USC’s football season, but USC general counsel Todd Dickey said he didn’t expect it to be an issue.

“They probably wouldn’t be tearing anything down until after the football season,” he said. “It would just stay there until we were done in early December.”

The other constituency involved was preservationists.

Los Angeles Conservancy executive director Linda Dishman said she saw the plans for the proposed enhancements about two weeks ago.

“We were pleased they were very sensitive to the historical character of the Coliseum,” she said. “I thought their sensitivity was very important.”

That seemed to be the theme of the day. Flood called it an upgrade to “this wonderful old lady.”

“The secret of this is -- don’t touch the Coliseum,” he said.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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Remaking an icon

Temporary enhancements to the Coliseum, the hub when Los Angeles was host of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games, are the key to the city’s bid for the 2016 Games. The anticipated expense, in 2007 dollars:

*--* Track installation $20 million Exterior installation $90 million Restoration to original condition $10 million Subtotal $120 million Salvage value of structural steel -- $ 8 million Total $112 million

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