Hardy’s Plan for Coliseum Would Have Changed History

From 1973 to 1986, Jim Hardy was general manager of the Los Angeles Coliseum.

He talked recently of the current plight of the 71-year-old facility, still undergoing repairs from last January’s earthquake. Recently, one estimate pegged the repair bill at $92.7 million and climbing.

“It’s sad to me, what’s happening to the Coliseum,” he said. “It’s a classic case of throwing good money after bad.

“About 20 years ago, I drew up a plan for taking the Coliseum private and turning it into a state-of-the-art facility. Carroll Rosenbloom (the Rams’ owner, who died in 1979) loved it. He was willing to finance it.

“We could have done the Coliseum over, retained the peristyle, put in suites, for around $50 million. But it never got past the Coliseum commission.

“If it had happened, the Rams never would have gone to Anaheim and UCLA never would have gone to the Rose Bowl. The Coliseum would be an up-to-date stadium today, and the Raiders never would have come to L.A.”