Rams Could Lose Lease on Practice Field in Anaheim

A vote by the Magnolia School District board Monday could force the Los Angeles Rams from their practice field within two years and, in turn, cost the city up to $7 million.

Citing overcrowding at its eight schools, the trustees declared that the former Juliette Low Elementary School, now known as Rams Park, is no longer surplus property. The declaration means that the National Football League team could lose its lease Dec. 31, 1993, on the Lincoln Avenue practice facility.

The city, under the 1978 agreement that brought the Rams to Anaheim Stadium from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, would then have to find the team a new practice site or construct a practice facility at a cost of no more than $7 million, City Manager James D. Ruth said Monday.

The Rams would then lease the facility from the city at a rent to be determined, he said. The team currently pays the school district $120,000 a year.

“I’m not sure how we would pay for that (new facility), considering the state of the economy,” Ruth said. “Our goal is to first see if the school district would be interested in renewing the lease. If that is not the case, we will then have to locate a new facility.”

Magnolia District Supt. Arch J. Haskins said the western Anaheim district’s agreement with the Rams required it to decide this year if the six-acre property would be needed in the future.

He said the district, with 5,200 students, will consider several options when the lease expires, including reopening the school, renewing the Rams’ lease or selling the property.

The board is expected to decide whether it will extend the Rams lease by July 1.

“My choice would not be to sell the property,” Haskins said. “This is a growing school district and that is an important piece of property. One of the things we could do is move all of the special programs (such as the gifted and handicapped student programs) we have spread throughout the district there and have them on one site. Or we could lease the property to the Rams on a year-to-year basis.”