COLISEUM WATCH : Forward Pass

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission has gotten more than its share of criticism over the last few years--a lot of it deserved. But to give credit where it is due, the current membership of that oft-maligned body is showing both foresight and no small amount of courage in finally starting to refurbish a venerable old stadium that badly needs a face lift.

The groundbreaking last week is the first step in a six-month, $15-million project that will lower the playing field so that about 8,000 new prime seats--that is, seats between the goal lines--can be installed. At the same time, more than 30,000 seats farthest from the playing field will be either eliminated or covered over, to be used only when major events require a larger seating capacity.

Lowering the field and improving the seating arrangement will set the stage for a second phase of Coliseum improvements, to be completed in future years if all goes well.

In the face of a very poor local economy, the commission has decided to use the money it won as a result of an antitrust lawsuit filed against the National Football League when the league tried to prevent the Raiders from moving to Los Angeles. Those funds are the roughly $15 million that will pay for the first phase of the renovation.

This renovation is important to all taxpayers in Los Angeles County. The stadium is a publicly owned facility that could easily become a drain on the public treasury if it is not modernized.

The Coliseum must be able to compete in bidding to bring major money-making events to Southern California.