Coliseum Panel OKs Rush Repair Without Bids

Without knowing how much it will cost, or how much earthquake damage may be discovered, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum commissioners voted 6 to 1 Monday to authorize awarding a repair contract without a bidding procedure and to start the job immediately.

In formally declaring an “urgent necessity” to do emergency work, the commission majority hired the Tutor-Saliba construction company; a project manager, Don C. Webb, and HNTB architects, all of whom have done Coliseum work before, and instructed them to do everything necessary to finish the work by Sept. 1.

That would be in time for the start of the regular Raiders and USC football seasons.

Only the commission president, Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, voted against the motion to give the work to Tutor-Saliba without bids. Burke said she feared a violation of regular government procedures and would have preferred a seven-day “fast track” bidding process.

“I would like to go on record,” Burke said after the vote. “I don’t believe one week for bidding would prevent doing this project on time.”

The commission conditioned its contract with Tutor-Saliba “on availability of disaster rehabilitation funding to the commission from FEMA and/or other federal and state disaster funding sources.”

But Webb and Commissioner Sheldon Sloan said they understood that was assured. They said that when Webb told federal and state disaster officials at a closed meeting Monday morning that he did not want to start the work unless they “intend to fund this all the way,” no official raised any objections.

Among those present were Frank Kishton, regional manager for FEMA, and Richard Andrews, director of the state Office of Emergency Services.

Kishton said Monday night: “Clearly this is an eligible structure for assistance. We are prepared to work with the grantee (the commission) to provide it.” He said the federal government would give 90% of the assistance and the state 10% under earthquake disaster rules.

But Kishton cautioned that it is not a blank check. He said FEMA and the state will review progress, work with the grantees as they develop their conceptual design for the repair of the Coliseum and protection of its historic character, and then fund what he called “the eligible costs.”

Andrews issued a statement, saying: “Complete repair and full (seismic) retrofitting of the Coliseum is extremely important to the economic well-being and the spirit of Los Angeles. It remains a priority for the state. Today we have assured that the necessary cooperation from the many agencies involved will exist.”

Webb has made a preliminary estimate that Coliseum repairs will cost $33 million. But he told the commission Monday that this is contingent on no discoveries of “unrevealed damage” by structural engineers who have not been able to view covered areas of the stadium superstructure.

In the commission vote Monday, Supervisor Deane Dana abstained and Supervisor Mike Antonovich was absent. Voting for awarding the contract without bid was Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro and Commissioners Sloan, Dean Pregerson, James Dickason, Steven Silberman and Roger Kozberg.

The commissioners acted after hearing Webb, the project director, say that with less than 200 days to do the work, they could not afford to let even seven days go by before beginning.

He said structural engineers will be identifying the precise damage, and the architects willbe doing the design as the work goes along.

USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett told the commission that he feared that if USC is forced to play next season at either Anaheim Stadium or the Rose Bowl, season ticket sales would fall significantly. He strongly supported the fastest possible repairs.

Ferraro asked Webb if he is sure the work can be completed in time.

“No, I’m not sure,” the project manager said. He noted that the engineers’ report of damage is “very conditional,” and said that a timely completion assumes “uninterrupted funding, an unparalleled (speedy) approval process, and no as yet unrevealed damage having a substantially detrimental effect on the corrective work.”

The motion naming Tutor-Saliba without bids came in part because of its familiarity with the stadium and the reliability of its past work there.

The firm, which did last year’s $15-million stadium renovation without bids because it was the only company judged to meet the project specifications, has been involved in the Metro Rail subway project.