Rose Bowl Face Lift May Be a Super Attraction : Renovation: Neighborhood groups that had objected to previous Rose Bowl plans give their tentative support to $8.3 million in press box, seating and other changes.

An $8.3-million proposal to renovate the Rose Bowl press box and restructure about 1,000 seats for club seating with an adjacent lounge, restaurant, Hall of Fame museum and gift shop has met with initial approval from neighborhood groups previewing the idea.

“It appears to be very, very attractive,” said Barbara Double, a member of the Linda Vista Annandale Neighborhood Assn. “It’s a very civilized solution that takes into account that the Rose Bowl is a major structure in a residential area.”

City officials last week took Double and representatives from half a dozen neighborhood groups on a tour of the press box facilities to see for themselves why renovation is being sought.

Although the 1922 structure originally contained a press box that mirrored the stadium’s Greco-Roman design by architect Myron Hunt, that press box was torn down decades later after reporters complained about its open-air style. A two-story press box was added in 1961.

But over the years, its Spartan accommodations have become worn and outdated. Half a dozen battered trailers of varying sizes have been hoisted onto the press box roof, providing space for VIP boxes and police and radio communication centers. The trailers, anchored to the roof by cables, contain plastic windows so old that they are no longer transparent and doors that fall off their hinges.

Under the proposed renovation, a three-story structure would provide a top floor with movable side walls to create VIP booths or extra space for the press, as needed. The present single elevator would be replaced by three. A tower of lights that now pokes through the center of the press box would be incorporated into the design to blend into the roof line.

In addition, an area in front of the new press box would be covered by awnings or enclosed by glass to create more exclusive and comfortable loge seating. Behind these seats would be built a restaurant, gift shop, Hall of Fame and lounge, which would be expected to generate $1.8 million annually in gross revenues for the stadium.

The improvements would enable the Rose Bowl to compete for major events with other stadiums that offer upscale seating, said Rose Bowl manager Greg Asbury.

Initially, money for the renovations would come from the sale of bonds and would be paid back from income expected from the improvements, Asbury said. A less-expensive alternative would be to abandon the money-generating improvements and make $2.5 million in repairs to the press box, he said.

If approved by the city’s Board of Directors, construction could be completed by 1992, in time for the 1993 Super Bowl and the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament. The Rose Bowl is seeking to host both events, Asbury said.

The press box proposal is still tentative, but city officials, stung by opposition last year to an $11-million improvement program that included luxury sky boxes, have started early to seek community support.

“Had they had any communication before, I don’t think they would have gotten the opposition they did,” said Double, an organizer with the Arroyo Seco Coalition, a community group that opposed the sky boxes. “All of us before had this concept of a monster on the arroyo.”

The city spent $23,000 examining the feasibility of that plan, which would have added luxury boxes costing $5 million, made $2 million in seismic improvements and cost $1 million for a scoreboard and $350,000 for a press box elevator. That plan was abandoned last summer.

Double said neighbors of the Rose Bowl opposed the sky boxes out of concern that the expansion would increase the height of the Rose Bowl and bring more events and traffic into the area. The smaller, $8.3-million plan seems more acceptable, she said, because the new press box will be the same height as the old.