Rams Get New Practice Field Offer : Sports: Anaheim submits lease proposal in effort to keep team from being evicted by the school district that owns the site.

In an effort to prevent the Rams from being kicked out of their practice facility, city officials Thursday presented the team with a new lease proposal for the site, which is owned by a school district.

City officials said they hope the team will accept the offer before a March 11 deadline imposed by Magnolia School District officials, who issued the eviction ultimatum because they have become frustrated with the lengthy negotiations.

Rams officials, however, said a quick decision on the new proposal is unlikely.

John Shaw, Rams executive vice president, said he had not seen the city’s new offer and does not expect to have a decision until late next week.

“We still have eight days,” Shaw said. “That’s a long time.”

Shaw said team officials have no contingency plans for a practice facility if they leave Rams Park, formerly Juliette Low Elementary School.

“We haven’t really looked at it,” Shaw said. “I’m sure there are alternative sites. We’re not restricted to practicing in Anaheim.”

The dispute over the practice facility has heightened concerns throughout the city that the Rams will move out of Anaheim after next season. Team officials already have indicated that they are exploring deals with other cities.

Shaw said the Rams will notify the city officially on May 3 that the team intends to exercise an escape clause in its Anaheim Stadium lease agreement. That notification allows the Rams to look elsewhere to play, but does not prohibit them from continuing to negotiate with Anaheim.

Magnolia School District Supt. Paul Mercier said earlier this week that he thought the team was stalling in the practice lease negotiations until it was certain about its future. He said the lease essentially was completed several weeks ago, but the Rams have refused to sign it.

Shaw, however, said there were still several significant obstacles to overcome before the team would consider signing a new lease. He said the team is concerned over provisions in the lease that require the team to pay restoration costs if it leaves the practice facility.

He also said the $250,000 penalty the team would have to pay to break the lease is unreasonable.

Furthermore, he said the city has reneged on an offer to upgrade the practice facility. City officials said they have met all their obligations to the team.

“We have felt for a number of years that this facility is basically inadequate, and we’ve been led to believe that the city would look for a newer facility or make improvements here,” Shaw said.

Nonetheless, he said he thought a deal eventually could be worked out.

“I have remained optimistic over the last four years that we would resolve this issue. I still remain optimistic,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine that they would evict us from this facility, but I’ve been wrong before.”

Anaheim City Atty. Jack L. White said the Rams may be evicted if they don’t decide on the lease by early next week.

“They’re taking a big risk,” said White, who noted that to beat the district’s deadline, the lease must be approved by the City Council on Tuesday, several days earlier, before the district could officially accept it.

Under a complicated arrangement, the city leases the property from the district and then sublets it to the Rams. The team has practiced at Rams Park since moving to Anaheim in 1980. The lease on the site expired Dec. 31, but was extended for one month while the parties worked to renew it. White said that if the Rams don’t sign the proposed lease next week, “it will be out of the city’s control.”

White said he has not heard from Shaw about the new proposal.

“Maybe he has better things to do, like shopping his team across the country,” he said.

Although White would not disclose all the details of the new proposal, he confirmed that it is a 10-year lease with a five-year extension option. The Rams could get out of the lease with six-month notice and a $250,000 payment to the district. The rent on the facility would be $250,000 a year, with the city subsidizing $120,000.