Sports Arena Previews Unveiled

The backers of a proposed sports arena in downtown Los Angeles offered the first public previews Thursday of what the hockey and basketball center might look like and how it might change Figueroa Street into a corridor of bright lights, cool shops and big fun.

Designers and developers suggested a Times Square West, a 35-acre district surrounding the arena with hotels, movie theaters, restaurants and a sports museum--all decked out with huge electronic billboards, light beams in the sky and perhaps videos screens in the sidewalk. There might even be a tower, like Manhattan’s, on which a glittery globe could descend at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

And in what they said was a significant political move, the arena developers also announced that they have halted negotiations with Inglewood, which is competing with Los Angeles for the proposed 20,000-seat sports and concert facility. A new $200-million arena would replace Inglewood’s Great Western Forum as home for the Lakers basketball and Kings hockey teams.

Kings officials leading the development effort said they will concentrate solely on the deal drafted last month with the Los Angeles City Council to build the arena next to the Los Angeles Convention Center at 11th and Figueroa streets.

“There are still many bumps in the road ahead. But assuming we can get through the bumps, as you see we are talking about the greatest sports entertainment complex built in all the United States,” Kings President Tim Lieweke told a luncheon meeting Thursday of the Central City Assn. of Los Angeles.

But the developers warned that they are keeping Inglewood as a backup in case the downtown arrangement doesn’t survive future steps such as an environmental review, or becomes entangled in a voter referendum. Some critics see the lingering possibility of Inglewood as an unsubtle threat.

Since the Central City Assn. consists of downtown boosters, an extremely friendly audience greeted the preliminary concepts shown on slides and videotapes. The two separate presentations were created by Albert C. Martin & Associates and by NBBJ Sports and Entertainment Architecture. Neither company is formally hired for the project, but both are considered front-runners: the Martin firm as a likely master planner for the district and NBBJ as designer for the arena.

Both plans show a circular area on the southwest corner of 11th and Figueroa, where the convention center’s North Hall is now located. Both show ice skating rinks outside and shops and hotels on adjacent properties, with a very large parking garage close to the Harbor Freeway. Both propose liberal use of Times Square-like signage in a hip, video-savvy manner.

“This is a regional entertainment facility that is meant to be quite visible and very lively,” said Christopher C. Martin, managing partner at A.C. Martin. “This is something people are going to want to come to from 20 to 30 miles away.”

Michael Hallmark, a principal at NBBJ, agreed and stressed that the models show skeptics that an arena can fit on the block, be a catalyst for reviving Figueroa, and take advantage of proximity to freeways and the Blue Line trolley. Such an early design, he said, “is meant to express the energy rather than the specifics.”

The Martin plan displays additions to the Convention Center that bridge over Pico Boulevard and push out from its north side. In contrast to the single hotel tower on the northwest corner of 11th and Figueroa streets in NBBJ’s proposal, the Martin model suggests three hotel structures there as well as one on Flower Street fronting a plaza. The NBBJ model shows a circular arena that sits next to an elegantly curved building of shops, cafes and team offices.

After lengthy debate, the Los Angeles City Council last month voted 13 to 2 to spend $70.5 million for property acquisition and contribute city land worth $20 million for the project. To help repay taxpayers, developers agreed to impose a ticket fee.

Steven Soboroff, a senior advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, said Thursday that the preliminary designs and the announcement about Inglewood were “big acknowledgments.” Yet he warned that the city should not be complacent until the arena opens. “It means it’s ours to lose,” he said.

Opponents contend that too much public money remains at risk. Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden, who along with Councilman Joel Wachs voted against the arena deal, predicted Thursday that the issue would wind up as a public referendum and be defeated. In a prepared statement, Holden said taxpayers “are fed up with welfare programs for the rich.”

Meanwhile, Inglewood Mayor Pro Tem Curren D. Price said he wasn’t surprised by the Kings’ decision to end talks with his city. Yet he insisted that Inglewood remains a superior location for a new facility.

“We think it will be their loss. If they’ve made the decision to go to downtown Los Angeles, that means we will intensify our effort to find another interested party to build another arena in Inglewood,” Price said.

Asked if he thought the Kings were playing the cities against each other, he replied: “That’s par for the course.”