USC announces plans for $270 million Coliseum renovation
USC officials announced the school’s plan for a $270 million renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Thursday.
The renovation will begin at the end of the 2017 football season and is expected to be competed by the 2019 season. The upgrade will reduce seating capacity from the current 93,607 to a smaller 77,500.
It will be the first significant renovation of the 92-year-old stadium in 20 years since the school spent $6 million to upgrade the press box in 1995.
“It was built in 1923 and it’s hardly been touched since then,” USC athletic director Pat Haden said. “It’s become a stadium in disrepair. I think our fans, our donors, our teams deserve a better venue. Virtually everybody else in the conference has already done that. The time is right for us to do this now.”
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The cost of the renovation will be covered using private funds such as “capital gifts, sponsorship revenue, non-athletic events and donor naming rights.” According to officials, the schools is still in the process of raising the funds for the project. The plans also require approval from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission.
The renovation plans include replacing every seat in the stadium, increasing the number of aisles, restoring peristyle to more closely reflect original design, adding handrails throughout the stadium and building a new structure on the south side of the building that will be the home to new suites, loge boxes and a media area.
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