News of the Arroyo
Title: | RBOC to take citywide NFL poll |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-04-09 |
Summary: | April 9, 2005 - Would anybody really trust a poll taken by the Rose Bowl Operating Company about the desirability of an NFL franchise in the aging Arroyo stadium? After banking all their credibility on that prospect for four years, RBOC will now spend $40,000 to prove Pasadena wants professional footbal.......er, correct that: to see if Pasadena wants professional football. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Friday, April 08, 2005 - PASADENA -- The Rose Bowl Operating Company will launch a citywide survey in the next few weeks to gauge support for bringing a National Football League team to a rebuilt Rose Bowl. Officials hope to have the results in time for the scheduled City Council review of the Rose Bowl Environmental Impact Report on May 9. The RBOC voted Thursday to spend up to $40,000 on a professional poll, and pledged to use questions that elicit as objective an assessment as possible of residents\' feelings on the NFL bid. \"We didn\'t want to limit it to a single geographic area,\' added RBOC board member Bill Thomson, making an oblique reference to the recent West Pasadena Residents\' Association survey on the same issue. The WPRA found neighborhood support for the bid was tepid at best, and cooled further when the possibility of increased traffic congestion and decreased park space were put on the scales. Members of the RBOC essentially dismissed the survey, saying the questions were leading and the results anything but scientific. \"Maybe the WPRA is correct, maybe they are not. Let\'s find out,\' Thomson said Friday. If the survey does show there is strong community support for an NFL deal, supporters will undoubtedly use the information to bolster counter attempts by preservationists and neighborhood groups to undermine the NFL proposal. Pasadena Heritage has been a leading critic, assailing the architectural design favored by the NFL to remake the Rose Bowl, which the group believes is the antithesis of what stadium architect Myron Hunt envisioned and a threat to the stadium\'s historic status. Even NFL backers are reticent about the bulky and bloated design being studied in the EIR, but they maintain the NFL remains the best option for renovating the 83-year-old stadium and keeping it from becoming obsolete. Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn recently said that without major work, the Rose Bowl will no longer be competing with the likes of the Coliseum in downtown Los Angeles for major events, but with such venues as the 5,700-seat Greek Theatre in Griffith Park. Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com . |
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