$300-million fixer-upper

Now that Pasadena residents have pulled out the welcome mat for the NFL, debate is shifting to what improvements need to be made at the Rose Bowl, how much they will cost and who will foot the bill.

Similar discussions are underway about Miami’s Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, two other municipally owned bowls that are showing their age.

The Rose Bowl’s to-do list includes new seats, wider concourses, a state-of-the-art video scoreboard and new field lighting. Cotton Bowl restrooms and concourses need an extreme makeover. And in the Orange Bowl, water drips onto some fans, even when it isn’t raining.

Those charged with safeguarding the city-owned bowls say they’re simply trying to keep the landmarks from become costly white elephants for taxpayers. Pasadena, for example, relies upon $2 million generated by the nearby municipal golf courses to keep the Rose Bowl afloat financially.

“The problem is that we have an 84-year old stadium that loses money,” said Fred Claire, former Dodgers general manager and a member of the Pasadena-appointed board that oversees Rose Bowl operations. “So 2007 is going to be a very important time for the Rose Bowl. The NFL issue is now resolved for this time, and the focus certainly needs to be on a strategic plan.”

Keeping old bowls safe and comfortable is a challenge. Football-centric bowls don’t easily lend themselves to other revenue-generating events. The three municipally owned bowls also must compete for city funds with police departments, sewage treatment plants and street repair crews.

The city of Pasadena nets $1.5 million annually from the long-term lease that the UCLA football team recently signed. The Tournament of Roses and a weekend flea market held in the Rose Bowl concourse each contribute $900,000. But that isn’t enough money to cover expenses, so to make ends meet, the bowl, in effect, borrows money each year from the profitable city golf courses nearby.

A major expense would upset Pasadena’s delicately balanced budget. “The first thing that will take a hit will be maintenance,” said Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn. “And if we can’t take care of the facility, the concern is long-term deterioration of the stadium. And we don’t want to let that happen.”

Maintenance costs are only one part of the Rose Bowl equation. A preliminary list of capital improvements includes wider aisles, additional exits, a wider concourse, a renovated press box, additional suites and a club.

The cost, if all of that were to be built, would be between $250 million and $300 million, according to city documents. That is comparable to what city officials in Miami and Dallas say it would take to complete major overhauls of their aging bowls, renovations that aren’t going to occur given strapped city budgets.

Stadium operators admit it will be tough to do everything on their wish lists. “We know that the amount and scope of what we’d like to do exceeds our available budget,” said Gary Fabrikant, the Miami city official in charge of the Orange Bowl, which a decade ago lost its namesake college football bowl to Dolphin Stadium.

Miami has earmarked $85 million for adding modern restrooms, pedestrian-friendly concourses and other improvements at the stadium that was completed in 1937. The plan also calls for some luxury suites and club seating. A top-to-bottom renovation would cost about $200 million.

In Dallas the bare-bones renovation underway at the 76-year-old Cotton Bowl will cost $56 million. A decision on adding suites will be delayed until the city knows if its tenants are going to stick around. The tab for a completely refurbished stadium has been estimated at about $300 million.

Bowl operators are trying to add soccer matches, concerts and other events to their football-oriented facilities. Ticket surcharges, a bigger share of tourism-related taxes, naming rights deals with corporate sponsors and other public-private partnerships also are being considered.

City officials fear that, absent renovations, the buildings could slide into disrepair, prompting their football tenants to move.

Speculation has begun in Dallas about the fate of the Cotton Bowl’s two big games -- the Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma and the AT&T; Cotton Bowl Classic. Miami city officials are in discussions with the University of Miami about its plans after its Orange Bowl lease expires in 2009.

The Rose Bowl is the most financially secure of the three city-owned bowls, in part because the Pasadena landmark and the L.A. Coliseum are the only big stadiums available for UCLA and USC football.

The Rose Bowl has also has signed long-term contracts with its two major tenants. The Tournament of Roses lease runs through 2019. UCLA recently signed a lease that runs through 2023, but the university also demanded that Pasadena pay for a $16-million expansion of the Rose Bowl’s locker room.

The UCLA lease, coincidentally, expires the same year the Rose Bowl is scheduled to celebrate its 100th anniversary -- and pay off its remaining $45-million debt.

With the NFL out of the picture, city officials say, it’s time to chart a clearer future for the iconic bowl that undoubtedly will be hit with unexpected repair bills. Pasadena, UCLA and the Tournament of Roses are spending about $500,000 on consulting firms that, early in 2007, will deliver a plan that will catalog desired improvements for the Rose Bowl, plus estimated costs and suggestions on how to generate more money to pay the bills.

The plan probably will renew the debate over the Rose Bowl’s future after November’s election, when Pasadena residents rejected the idea of an NFL team coming to town.

“The community has been saying ‘no, no, no’ for many years to the NFL,” said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. “But if the answer is now ‘no,’ then what’s next?”

The Coliseum might be handed over to USC, and Anaheim has asked real estate developers for bids on property the NFL had been eyeing.

“Pasadena doesn’t have a ‘next’ yet,” Carter said. “But it can’t continue to do nothing.”

*

The politics and financing of a football bowl were decidedly simpler in 1923, when a private organization built the Rose Bowl for $272,198.

The facility subsequently was turned over to Pasadena. But for decades, the Tournament of Roses picked up most of the tab when the bowl needed additional seats or an enclosed end zone. During the late 1940s, for example, the tournament did what marching bands and youth groups do: It sold scrip to raise money.

Supporters paid $55 for a coupon book that guaranteed seats -- at an incredibly low $5.50 a game -- for Rose Bowls to be played during the 1950s. The money generated was used to pay down renovation-related debt.

“We’ve taken real good care of the Rose Bowl in the 40 years or so that I’ve been involved with it,” said Jim Stivers, a longtime Pasadena resident who is affiliated with the nonprofit Tournament and the city-appointed board that oversees the municipal Rose Bowl Operating Co.

“But it does need a lot more work,” Stivers said. “And it needs some modern amenities.”

Sue Mossman, executive director of the Pasadena Heritage historic preservation group, agrees it would be short-sighted to ignore the bowl’s needs.

“Those of us who have as a first priority to preserve and protect the Rose Bowl understand that there’s no free lunch,” Mossman said. “But we need to understand what the greatest needs are ... and then figure out how to prioritize them, determine what they’ll cost and figure out how we’ll pay for them.”

Some observers suggest that cities will have to explore public-private partnerships that could help pay for improvements.

Dallas, for example, might ask tenants to share the cost, and the subsequent financial benefits, if luxury suites are to be added to the Cotton Bowl. And Miami is working with the Hurricanes to address improvements to the Orange Bowl.

Meanwhile, in Pasadena, polls suggests that many residents haven’t set foot in the Rose Bowl in years, if ever. The city hopes to discuss the upcoming strategic plan with a Jan. 20 open house at the Rose Bowl.

greg.johnson@latimes.com