Coliseum Dangles Plum for Raiders

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission is readying a new $30-million plan for renovation of the stadium aimed at persuading Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis not to move his team elsewhere, commission President Richard Riordan disclosed Monday.

Citing depositions taken in the Coliseum’s breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Raiders, Riordan said there are fresh indications that financing for the proposed Raider stadium in Irwindale is very uncertain. He said this is an opportune time to open new Coliseum discussions with Davis.

“I admire Al Davis,” Riordan said in an interview in his law offices in downtown Los Angeles. “He stands up for what he believes in. He obviously can be trying at times, but I’ve always ended up respecting him.”

Riordan said that if the Raider deal to play in Irwindale falls through, “we think it makes great sense for the city of Los Angeles and the Raiders for them to stay in Los Angeles.”

As an example, he said, “with this being a great cable television center, we are convinced that over the long run, it makes good economic sense.”

The commission president said depositions taken in the Coliseum’s lawsuit against the Raiders show that Irwindale has informed the team that the small industrial city cannot provide all the necessary financing for the proposed $150-million stadium there and that the Raiders will have to come up with additional money if the deal is to work.

As for the commission’s $57-million lawsuit against the team, Riordan said, “I think the time is now for an armistice in the legal war.”

He said settlement of the lawsuit would necessarily be part of any agreement on a long-term contract for the Raiders to continue playing in the Coliseum.

The Raiders had no comment on Riordan’s remarks.

But in Irwindale, city spokesman Xavier Hermosillo said Davis has by no means given up on the Irwindale project. (Hermosillo, who was ousted by the city several months ago, was recently rehired.)

“I’d say the Coliseum Commission is wrong if they think this is the time to make any kind of approach to Al Davis,” Hermosillo said. “I would expect the Coliseum people to do what they can to feather their own nest and to be disruptive, if they can, to the Raider relationship with Irwindale. We’re not going to let that happen, and I don’t believe Al Davis is going to let that happen.”

Another source close to the situation, who asked not to be identified, said Riordan’s optimism notwithstanding, Davis has given Irwindale 60 to 90 more days to come up with the financing to build its stadium.

Hermosillo denied Davis has set a deadline.

“There’s been no mention by him of any 60- to 90-day limit,” he said.

Lowering Field

Riordan said the renovation plan the Coliseum Commission is preparing to offer the Raiders includes lowering the level of the Coliseum playing field 9 1/2 feet, placing several thousand prime new seats along the sidelines, installing fancy portable seating in the stadium’s east end and building, either by the commission or the Raiders, of long-envisioned luxury boxes on the Coliseum rim.

The resulting stadium, with a seating capacity ranging from 70,000 to 75,000 for Raider games, would be a “state-of-the-art facility” with “far better” sight lines for football fans than the present Rose Bowl, Riordan asserted.

He said that regardless of whether the Raiders agree to remain in the Coliseum, certain renovations are already planned for the near future.

A “very attractive” wrought-iron fence will be built around the entire facility, he said, and space between the stadium proper and the fence will be increased to 40 feet, allowing more space for concessions and 16 new restroom facilities on the ground level.

In addition, he said, lighting will be improved in Exposition Park, adjacent to the Coliseum, and a fence will be constructed all the way around the park to bring about “a perception and reality of a safer area.”

Beyond that, the commission is considering selling bonds this year to improve surface parking around the Coliseum, clear some existing buildings and possibly build a parking structure, Riordan said.

Opportune Time

Echoing Riordan’s confidence that this is an opportune time to discuss plans with the Raiders, commission attorney Marshall Grossman said Monday that he has told Raider counsel Jeff Birren of the commission’s “hope that the time is right” for new talks.

“If the Irwindale deal is dead, then there is no practical hurdle for the Coliseum Commission and the Raiders to take a fresh look and make a deal,” Grossman said.