Coliseum Will Get Face Lift : Renovation: The work will begin after the Raiders finish their 1992 season. Trojans also must find a new home for ’93.

It won’t become official until earth moves and tractors roll, but the Raiders and USC are ready, gladly, to accept the consequences of eviction in 1993 while the Coliseum undergoes major renovation.

At a Tuesday news conference, the facility’s private managers unveiled plans to make the 68-year-old Coliseum a state-of-the-art complex by removing some seats, lowering the playing field and adding luxury box suites.

Project managers of the Spectacor business partnership said that, barring complications, construction will begin after the Raiders finish their 1992 season and be completed in 16 to 18 months, meaning the Raiders and the Trojans will have to play their 1993 seasons elsewhere.

Raider owner Al Davis said representatives of the Rose Bowl, Anaheim Stadium and Dodger Stadium have indicated indirectly that they will offer their facilities to his team.

“I don’t think that’s a major issue, nor do I think that’s a big problem,” Davis said.

It is believed that the Raiders will play at Dodger Stadium in 1993 and the Trojans will go to Anaheim Stadium for that season. The city of Pasadena has an ordinance limiting the number of games that can be played at the Rose Bowl each year, while Anaheim Stadium would present the Raiders with possible conflicts with the Rams.

Davis said his organization is ready to accept the challenge of temporary relocation. In 1982, the Raiders’ first season in Los Angeles, the team remained in Oakland and flew down for games on the weekends. As a logistics problem, an alternate bus ride to Dodger Stadium hardly compares.

“We were a road team for 16 weeks, per se,” Davis said of the 1982 experience.

It didn’t bother his team’s performance. The Raiders went 8-1 in the strike-shortened season before losing to the New York Jets in the playoffs.

“I try to think that problems are normal,” Davis said. “If you have great players, you manage to win. We did in 1982. In 1983, we came down here in late July and went on to win the Super Bowl. And we were under tough circumstances all year.”

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee said that the Trojans will probably play the ’93 football season at Anaheim Stadium.

“It’s not official yet, but frankly, all our conversations over the last six months have been with the people of Anaheim,” McGee said. “And they’ve been very helpful.”

Why not the Rose Bowl or Dodger Stadium?

“There would be conflicts at the Rose Bowl,” McGee said. “We visited with (Dodger owner) Peter O’Malley, but that’s a stadium that has very limited seating capacity. You’re talking about 45,000 view seats. Anaheim has talked about moving the seating capacity to 72,000 or 73,000 for our games.”

The Trojans have 1993 home games scheduled against Houston, Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA.

McGee said the university is already working on contingency packages to transport fans to Anaheim.

“Including bringing students down by train,” he said. “Because there’s a train station right at Anaheim Stadium. So, when that day occurs, we’ll try to make it a positive experience and not one where people feel in any way cheated.”

Davis, who fought for years with the Coliseum Commission over renovation and threatened more than once to move the Raiders out of Los Angeles, said he is confident that the renovation will succeed.

Still, it was believed that Davis would delay his decision on where to play until construction on the Coliseum has begun.

“No,” Davis said, “I might do that earlier. Right now we’re so busy with the football season, I don’t want to zero in on anything.”

Davis said the new configuration of the Coliseum, which will reduce seating capacity from 92,500 to about 70,000, or about 85,000 for some USC games, will give the Raiders a home-field advantage that is presently lacking.

Raider attendance has been sporadic. The team drew only 40,287 for the game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 15, although 90,000 fans are expected for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Davis thinks an updated Coliseum will result in more consistent figures.

“I’m more concerned with the roar of the crowd and the intimacy of the stadium,” he said. “With no disrespect with what’s around the Coliseum right now, it’s just not up to par. You have to make it clean and safe, so people will want to come.”

The addition of as many as 282 luxury boxes will also put Davis on equal footing with other NFL owners.

How many franchises don’t have such facilities?

“There’s about two left,” Davis said. “ . . . I’m not here to discuss money or complain, but that’s where everyone’s got us. Everyone’s got a hundred boxes or so, and they charge, say $60,000 a box. That’s $6 million, or $5 million right away.

“The Rams start ahead of us, which is a part of life, with 100 boxes right now. We don’t have ours.”

If all goes according to schedule, Davis will get his in 1994.

“I’d be very disappointed if it didn’t (succeed),” he said. “The one thing that could be quite unique about this situation, which is tremendous, is that (Spectacor) is a private group that has put up a lot of money already. Front money. They put it on the table. They haven’t just talked.”

Times staff writer Jerry Crowe contributed to this story.

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