First Phase of Coliseum Renovation to Begin Soon : Stadium: Tutor-Saliba Corp. will do the work. Construction should start in February and has an ‘absolutely unforgiving deadline’ of Aug. 1.

Following years of scrapped plans and broken promises, a major renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is due to begin next month by the Tutor-Saliba Corp., which was selected Wednesday by the Coliseum Commission to undertake the estimated $15-million face lift.

Initial plans call for the Coliseum floor to be lowered by 11 feet to enable the addition of 14 rows of seats. Commission President William Robertson said the construction--the first of two phases--should begin in late February and be completed no later than Aug. 1, before the beginning of the Raiders’ exhibition season.

The second phase of construction, which would not begin until at least 1994, would include putting luxury boxes in the Coliseum and reducing the stadium’s 92,655-seat capacity to 65,000 to 70,000 for Raider games. Some extra seats would be available for USC’s big games.

Tutor-Saliba, a prime contractor on the Metro Rail project, has recently been criticized for submitting extra bills for a large number of “change orders” in its transit work. But under the terms of the planned Coliseum contract, it will guarantee a maximum price and there will be no change orders, Robertson and other Coliseum officials said.

Roger Sexton, a Tutor-Saliba vice president, and Don Webb, an executive hired by the commission to manage the construction project, told the commission that they expect the final contract will call for payment of less than $15 million but that they could give no precise estimate until architectural drawings are complete.

Tutor-Saliba has done Coliseum work before, and Robertson said a committee of four commissioners, interviewing representatives of the finalists Wednesday, thought that Tutor-Saliba was best suited to finish this year’s work by the “absolutely unforgiving deadline.”

The current renovation plans represent only the latest of many since 1978 aimed at modernizing the Coliseum, a national historic landmark and the only stadium in the world to serve as the principal arena for two of the modern Olympic Games, in 1932 and 1984. Other major events--the 1959 World Series, John F. Kennedy’s speech accepting the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination and a Mass by Pope John Paul II--have also taken place there.

USC representatives have participated in planning the stadium renovation, and a school official told the commission Wednesday that the panel has the university’s backing. Although the Raiders were not present at the meeting, Robertson said team officials have been kept informed and are supportive.

Promises of Coliseum renovations were made to the team when it moved here from Oakland more than a decade ago. Since then, however, there have been many snags. Last year, a deal for a privately financed renovation by the Spectacor Management partnership fell through, prompting the commission to take over direction of the renovation effort.

Money for Tutor-Saliba’s work is coming from Coliseum funds won in a lawsuit against the National Football League for impeding the move of the Raiders to Los Angeles from Oakland. Financing for the second phase has not yet been obtained.

All of the commissioners present favored Tutor-Saliba over eight other companies that submitted construction proposals, except for Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden, who said he was obligated to abstain because he had taken political contributions from the firm.

Available records show that Holden got $500 in 1987, and that Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who did vote, received $6,100 in contributions from the firm from 1984 to 1991.

However, California law does not prohibit a vote in such a circumstance. The state’s conflict-of-interest rules prohibit commissioners from voting on permits, licenses and no-bid contracts affecting any of their campaign contributors who have donated more than $250 during the preceding 12 months.

Times staff writer David Willman contributed to this story.