{"id":14885,"date":"2024-10-20T13:35:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/?p=14885"},"modified":"2024-10-20T13:35:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T20:35:05","slug":"the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history","title":{"rendered":"The Coliseum in LA, a unique stadium with a 100-year history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had a profound impact on the city&#8217;s history. The stadium was built in the late 1910s to attract the Summer Olympics. This huge 77,000-seat facility is one of the most important sites in the history of modern stadium construction. It is a national and state landmark that has hosted numerous historic cultural and civic events, including the Olympic Games (1932 and 1984), two Super Bowls (professional football championship games), the Major League Baseball World Series, political conventions, the 1963 Billy Graham Crusade and much more. Find out how the <a href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-los-angeles-olympics\">Olympic Games<\/a> were held in LA. Next on <a href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\">i-los-angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36bc1a58d61\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36bc1a58d61\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history\/#The_idea_of_building_a_stadium\" >The idea of building a stadium<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history\/#Design_and_management_structure\" >Design and management structure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history\/#The_heyday_of_the_stadiums_activities\" >The heyday of the stadium&#8217;s activities<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/eternal-the-coliseum-in-la-a-unique-stadium-with-a-100-year-history\/#A_platform_for_rallies\" >A platform for rallies<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_idea_of_building_a_stadium\"><\/span>The idea of building a stadium<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The construction of a large stadium seemed like a rather risky project for a city with a population of approx. 500,000 people in the early 1920s. The 75,000-seat stadium opened in July 1923. In 1931, the stadium&#8217;s capacity was further increased to 100,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garland was determined to use the stadium project to convince the IOC to award the Olympics to a city that was perceived as marginal and too far from Europe. The resourceful Garland made his way to the IOC. He eventually secured a bid to host the 1932 Olympics in LA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus, the costs of building the stadium and hosting the Olympics were fully repaid. The games even generated a small surplus of profit. In the decades that followed, the Coliseum and the accompanying growth of the international sports industry helped make LA the international sports capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/09\/17102401\/ad_4nxfxmoyxlrdmy5nidwzqxj7j7tidrjbgjwmzpj1ynle6h9tkfkgyrwu09hw2jhyrus15pkbuotnfgzsc1jikbyihp81xrxwnlxhzuvzmhgbmomoluaxdv1n_pqlny83ga-mhyay8soljf99kjwvxwvez1qt0keyxwsr8dqxipvwuhlnk1xxya.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Design_and_management_structure\"><\/span>Design and management structure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The height of the Coliseum is determined by its unique architecture. It was designed by John Parkinson, an architect of many important LA buildings during this period. The stadium was anchored in a gravel pit in Exposition Park. The elliptical structure was modeled on the Yale Bowl, a bowl-shaped facility in New Haven, Connecticut, which influenced stadium designers at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Athletes and spectators alike noted another distinctive feature of the arena, a 400-foot concrete peristyle at the east end of the stadium. Designed as a memorial to the veterans who served in World War I, the columns and torchlight arches are what set the stadium apart from other bowl-shaped structures that were built in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 1932 Olympic Games also contributed to another unique aspect of the Coliseum in the history of stadium management. Since the building&#8217;s opening, control of the stadium has been the subject of battles between local elites and officials from the city, state and county. The relationship that led to the construction of the Coliseum can be characterized as an uneasy alliance between elite reformers and local politicians. The result was an arrangement in which the Coliseum was run by civil servants but financed by the revenues generated by events held at the site. Commissioners often pointed out that no tax dollars were used to run the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/09\/17102400\/ad_4nxfytgoe68t8nur7uuozyyuwwlty4beiba5zh7hp8m7cwo2q3o1jmj-d_3zfnbsg4k5qrok3orvcjkislxudiwce6b_da00ekjs5lgzazl3ikqyyz2pf_pfzyxyeswl7vjap4bvsppclohw2bjuvcixkwj0keyxwsr8dqxipvwuhlnk1xxya.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_heyday_of_the_stadiums_activities\"><\/span>The heyday of the stadium&#8217;s activities<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1945, Bill Nicholas was hired as the stadium&#8217;s operations manager. He managed events at the Coliseum for nearly 30 years. His administrative skills and national connections helped make the Coliseum a self-sustaining enterprise. Nicholas&#8217; impact was felt almost immediately. The Coliseum&#8217;s events and attendance grew from 27 events and a total attendance of 709,095 people between 1943 and 1944 to 70 events and a total attendance of 1,889,923 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By 1959, the Coliseum had a full range of events, including 28 football games with an attendance of 1,416,297 people, a track meet with an attendance of 39,213 people, and 79 baseball games with an attendance of 2,998,596 people. By the 1970s, however, this stadium management model could not keep up with the growth of professional sports teams, all of which were getting their own facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Coliseum helped create Southern California&#8217;s unique sports culture, allowing it to become an international sports stadium for much of the 20th century. In the decades following the 1932 Olympic Games, the city developed a robust sports scene from the high school to the professional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has also become the home field of the perennial national college football programs, the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. In the post-World War II era, the Coliseum allowed the city to lure professional sports teams to LA. In 1946, the National Football League came to LA when the Rams franchise moved to the city from Cleveland. In 1958, Major League Baseball arrived in LA when the team relocated to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For their first four seasons in LA, the Dodgers played their games in the imperfect confines of the Coliseum. However, the stadium proved to be the only viable facility as the Dodgers waited for their new stadium to be built. Soon, more professional franchises followed, propelling the city into one of the most influential sports scenes in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/09\/17102358\/ad_4nxddnonkjhwcrg7blnrw9bnaznkaqirh8p8fp4yeriwwhcvn1khttpzzsuya-jvsgxyqmvgopwk3dtqq1-_jql5jtkulqius1rlpbhzfmltizt1adns6qpdawb7noxwohrki-v4zhoxxiy4w2n9p0v5nth9hkeyxwsr8dqxipvwuhlnk1xxya.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_platform_for_rallies\"><\/span>A platform for rallies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time, the Coliseum also became perhaps the most important civic and cultural space in the city. Among the important events that took place in the Coliseum:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>John F. Kennedy&#8217;s speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>religious ceremonies, including Billy Graham&#8217;s crusade, which attracted 134,000 spectators<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>local African-American activists could also occasionally hold rallies and concerts in the Coliseum, including a 1964 freedom rally with Martin Luther King as one of the main speakers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the memorable Wattstax concert in 1972, when more than 100,000 people commemorated the seventh anniversary of the 1965 uprising in Watts, South LA<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 1981, a ceremony was held during which 10,000 immigrants became US citizens.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The building has become a truly multi-purpose facility, one of the most socially inclusive spaces in the city for people of different classes, races and ethnicities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-los-angeles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/09\/17102357\/ad_4nxfhfntnygxo4fwf58wlozl5iw8du8lopl0ad5yssl0qxbtq78fzfezkavkh5gwxom55za0gdlx-1wcme65gy1d4jcjxkw__5huwe0zl0vaec9igwzgczzzgtcsxecptntcqfu0w7edqjxuxxqhaswp_vlrmkeyxwsr8dqxipvwuhlnk1xxya.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the Coliseum&#8217;s opening in 1923, the stadium has been the home field of nearly every major collegiate and professional team in Southern California. The stadium&#8217;s oldest and only tenant was the University of Southern California Trojans (USC) football program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2013, the USC signed a 98-year lease with the City of Los Angeles to manage and operate the Coliseum. In 2019, the USC program completed a $315 million renovation of the building, returning the Coliseum to world-class event venue status. The renovation of the Coliseum was fully funded by grants, sponsorship revenue and donor naming rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reconstruction of the Coliseum ensures that the stadium gives all fans the opportunity to enjoy a first-class facility, a huge home-field advantage and preserves the historical integrity of the Coliseum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had a profound impact on the city&#8217;s history. The stadium was built in the late 1910s to attract the Summer Olympics. This huge 77,000-seat facility is one of the most important sites in the history of modern stadium construction. It is a national and state landmark that has hosted numerous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341,"featured_media":14664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4820],"tags":[7516,7511,7525,7512,7519,7514,7521,7523,7524,7517,7526,7515,7522,7520,7513],"moimportance":[32,35],"motype":[4825],"moformat":[83],"class_list":["post-14885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sporty","tag-100-year-old-stadium","tag-coliseum-architecture","tag-coliseum-renovations","tag-cultural-events-la-coliseum","tag-famous-coliseum-concerts","tag-football-at-la-coliseum","tag-historic-coliseum-events","tag-historic-sports-venue-la","tag-iconic-stadium-la","tag-la-coliseum-history","tag-legendary-la-stadium","tag-los-angeles-sports-venue","tag-olympics-at-la-coliseum","tag-sports-events-la-coliseum","tag-usc-trojans-home-stadium","moimportance-golovna-novyna","moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory","motype-eternal","moformat-longread-short"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14886,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions\/14886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-los-angeles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=14885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}