NEXT L.A. / A look at issues, people and ideas helping to shape the emerging metropolis. : Now Playing: Reader’s Stadium Suggestions

We asked readers to tell us what they want in a new stadium or arena (“If We Build It, Will They Come?”, Dec. 12) and they spoke loud and clear on one priority: better access. In particular, proximity to mass transit, or at least better control of traffic and easier parking. Others e-mailed new features they would like or suggested locations. One ex-Raider fan with a long memory simply tore out a map of the San Gabriel Valley, drew an X over Irwindale and scrawled: Build Stadium Here. Still others rejected the whole notion of new stadiums. Here are some excerpts.

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I think a new stadium requires:

1. A brand new team, not someone else’s castoff.

2. Resonable prices for concessions.

3. Lots of bathroom space.

4. Seating for the handicapped that is not just leftover storage space but allows them to be part of the whole experience.

Kim Butler

Lakewood

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Besides topless cocktail waitresses, I have always wanted to see QB1-like game pads built into the seat in front of you. It is a game that you play, usually at sports bars, where you try to guess the next play before it happens. You compete with others in the bar and the results are shown on a monitor. But, in this case, you would be able to compete with 60,000 other people. It would be so cool!

P.S.: Just, please, no Disneyesque extravaganzas during every single stoppage of play.

Paul Schowalter

La Habra Heights

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Bigger seats, close to the action. Without personal seat licenses, which are legalized extortion. More bathrooms. Specifically, twice as many ladies’ rooms as men’s, to reduce those lines. A stadium that’s transit friendly--which seems to point to the El Segundo site--close to the 405, 105 and the Green Line. Or Union Station, of course.

B.J. Mora

Manhattan Beach

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Regarding your headline, “If We Build It, Will They Come?” Who, pray tell, are the “We?” I infer that you expect the people of Los Angeles and/or Orange Counties to pay for whatever facilities the NFL and its greedy owners demand. This is extortion and we should not yield.

Irwin Rosten

Los Angeles

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Since Union Station is the hub for our evolving rapid transit system, I would select that site. Automobile pollution, traffic and parking volume would be minimized and attending the events would be more affordable. A large investment in the rapid transit infrastructure has already been made and we should maximize its use.

Duane Cameron

Studio City

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I think the City of Los Angeles (or Inglewood or whoever) should require the developers [of a new stadium] to build a spur to connect that facility to the Metro Rail system. Metro Rail missed the opportunity to connect with public stadiums on its first planning, but it’s not too late. Now is the time to invest in public transportation to these public places. All other cities have done it successfully.

Earl B. Gross

Los Angeles

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I’ve seen about 100 football games in the Coliseum and it’s a perfectly fine stadium. The idea that we need skyboxes and private suites for the rich and powerful makes my populist blood boil. If the wealthy want to go to football games with us ordinary beer-swilling fans, they will just have to sit with us and listen to our yelling and belching and carrying on.

John Owen

Los Angeles

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I believe we need a new arena situated in Downtown L.A. as an incentive for firms to invest in the area. The new arena will have parking structures connected to the new “Dog House” arena. Concessions would be provided by outside vendors such as McDonald’s or Taco Bell. There will be ample restrooms and places to sit inside the arena, so fans can visit in the hallways before and after the games.

Michael P. Rives

Los Angeles

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We as a city have an opportunity to make a state of the art ultra-modern stadium that could be the focal point of this beleagured city we call Los Angeles. First and foremost, traffic must be dealt with. I would imagine 8 to 19 satellite parking structures/areas, ranging in distance from 5 to 25 miles away. Monorails connect these parking areas to the stadium. The area immediately surrounding should be a park with plenty of green grass, complete with barbecues for tailgate parties. It should be a cross between CityWalk and an amusement park, with roller hockey rinks, bike paths, skating paths, adventure areas. A fun, safe place to go, a crown jewel for the city.

Michael Freeth

El Monte

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TRANSPORTATION! I’d like to have a Park and Ride system available. Parking, and especially leaving Dodger Stadium, for example, is a discouraging chore on an entertaining evening.

Sandra K. Johnson

Los Angeles

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The national media seems to mock Los Angeles sorts fans when they leave Dodger Stadium in the 6th inning or don’t even show up to Lakers or Kings games. My explanation for that is that LA does not have any mass transit (trains/subways) to any sports venue. This is ridiculous! I stay until the end of each game, but I even think of leaving early to “beat the traffic.” Any new stadium built in L.A. should have train (not bus) service before, during and after any event.

Bruce Konschuh

Los Angeles

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Here are a few suggestions for features in a new stadium:

1. Cup holders at each seat. They have this at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

2. Lots of aisles so people won’t we getting in your way so often as they go for food, drink, relief, etc.

3. NO SMOKING!!!! Designated areas for people who must.

4. A scoreboard that shows running statistics.

5. Lots of food choices. How about a good falafel, knish or tempura?

6. Lots of TV monitors to keep track of the action while away from your seat. I say put a few in the bathrooms! While I will always have a fond place in my heart for the L.A. Coliseum, it is time for something new.

Stuart Weiss

Los Angeles

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The main features I want to see in our new stadium are a homegrown L.A. native team like maybe the L.A. Tremors or Mustangs. Not some lost soul like the Raiders, Seahawks or Buccaneers, yeeech! Why? As big a football fan as I am, I think L.A. has been a big winner without a team. We get the best football games on TV and don’t have to deal with shyster owners and crybaby players. I truly think that if it were done right, a huge IMAX stadium would be our best bet.

And committed ownership, as opposed to ownership that should be committed (i.e.: Davis or Frontiere). Someone who loves L.A. and its people ... hmmm, sounds alot like Peter O’Malley. Come to think of it, the L.A. Football Dodgers would be ideal. Go for it Pete!

Mario Soto

Pasadena

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You asked the provocative questions: Bigger seats or hipper music? Holographic scoreboards or more bathrooms?

At first I was caught up in the concept. Yeah, I’d prefer bigger seats over all that darn music. And anyone who has been to the Rose Bowl would vote for more bathrooms and better access thereto.

Then I reflected on a recently issued music CD from the Grateful Dead. They played the “Hundred Year Hall,” which I think is in Frankfurt, Germany. I began to think, with all the facilities we have, why keep building new ones and discarding the old? I was astonished to learn that the Lakers want to raze the Forum. The Roman Forum is still standing, though not in use. Here a building that is not 30 years old is ready for the wrecking ball?

The question L.A. should ask itself is why does it need to lure professional football with an expensive new stadium? I can see why places like St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and my hometown of Indianapolis feel they need big sports franchises. Those are wannabe towns. L.A. is not a wannabe town. Look at what you’ve got and invest in that, not in what left town in a huff. Take the lead for a change and say, “We don’t need football to believe in ourselves.”

Tom Hinshaw

Santa Barbara

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We seem to enjoy going to the movies rather than going to watch football actually being played in front of us. The next stadium should be a 40,000 seat, IMAX stadium with Dolby THX sound, comfortable padded seats, and waitress service.

There would be previews of upcoming games, and then the IMAX would present two larger-than-life games per day in bonecrushing THX digital-whatever sound, in the comfort of a movie theater.

Eric Middleton

Torrance