Bloom Is Off the Rose Bowl : Sports: Stadium may need major renovation to keep UCLA, its principal tenant. Backers of an overhaul say it also could lure a pro football team.

Pasadena’s 73-year-old granddaddy of stadiums, host to more Super Bowls than anywhere else, needs a minimum $40-million overhaul just to stay in the game.

UCLA, whose lease expires in 1996, has already begun making ominous noises about the outmoded, deteriorated condition of the Rose Bowl, lobbying for theater-style seats, more restrooms, a giant video scoreboard and replacements for the dark, uninviting tunnel entryways.

“The bottom line is the Rose Bowl hasn’t enough women’s bathrooms, there aren’t enough aisles, the seats are uncomfortable benches, ingress and egress from the bowl is terrible, concessions aren’t accessible, the scoreboard is from the 1960s and the sound system is an embarrassment,” said Stephen Salm, UCLA’s associate athletic director for business and finance.

Other than that, no problem. And the deficiencies at the Rose Bowl were not much of a problem in attracting tenants--until the operators of Hollywood Park announced plans to build a state-of-the-art football stadium next to the racetrack. The prospect of losing UCLA, the bowl’s main customer, is forcing Pasadena into a quick decision about the future of its old city-owned bowl.

“The City Council will have to make a decision very soon on whether to invest in the Rose Bowl or let it wither,” Pasadena’s City Manager Philip A. Hawkey told the council this week.

The Bruins are scheduled to begin their 14th season at the bowl Sept. 2 against the University of Miami. The team has two more seasons to play on its 10-year contract.

“Without UCLA, this place is a museum with a few concerts,” said Alfred F. Moses, president of the Rose Bowl Operating Co. board. Most of the board members are appointed by the council.

The Bruins pay $250,000 in rent per year to use the 100,000-seat bowl, but they also bring in millions of dollars indirectly through sky box rental, advertising and business in nearby Old Pasadena, Moses said.

Team leaders have made no secret of their desire for a modern stadium closer to the Westwood campus, Salm said.

“We’re discussing our options with Hollywood Park. This is a state-of-the-art stadium that would be ready for our 1997 season,” said Salm, who believes the Rose Bowl needs a massive overhaul to compete.

Still, some council members see a ray of hope in the move to modernize. If the Rose Bowl needs a face lift, they say, why not go for total-body plastic surgery that could help lure a National Football League franchise and ultimately bring millions of dollars into the city? The league is proposing one--and possibly two if the Raiders leave--new teams for the Southland. Talks are already under way, but even if the city could draw a team, going pro would mean much more expensive enhancements--more than $150 million worth.

“The cake is UCLA. The icing would be a pro team,” said Vice Mayor Chris Holden. “There’s a window of opportunity. We’re a viable alternative to new venues. That’s why we’re hiring the NFL’s primary architectural firm to evaluate the bowl.”

The firm will assess what the bowl would need to serve as an NFL stadium and a 75,000-seat college stadium able to convert to 100,000 capacity for the Super Bowl, city officials said. The council could make a decision as early as July, or even before if the NFL requires, they said.

One stumbling block to a pro team is opposition from homeowners around the bowl. Rose Bowl neighbor Penny York, vice president of the operating board, said residents would sue over any attempt to bring in a pro team with the regularly scheduled crowds and traffic.

Another worry is just where the city would get the money. City officials are talking about a city or county bond measure, or even appealing to the private sector.

Pasadena Councilman William E. Thomson Jr. said that major improvements will need regional support, but that the Rose Bowl is a regional treasure worthy of saving.

“It’s a terrible place to get in and out of,” said the UCLA game regular. “It needs drastic surgery.”