News of the Arroyo
Title: | Sides in Rose Bowl debate still disagree |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-06-13 |
Summary: | June 13, 2005 - How should Pasadena plan for the future of the Rose Bowl, now that the NFL plan seems to have stalled or been killed. The controversy pits the powerful West Pasadena Residents Association against the Rose Bowl Operating Company. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA -- The West Pasadena Residents Association has called on the city to establish a blue ribbon panel of preservationists, environmentalists and neighborhood activists to develop a plan for renovating the aging Rose Bowl. The WPRA made the pitch this week in letters sent to Mayor Bill Bogaard, Vice Mayor Steve Madison and City Manager Cynthia Kurtz. The group also took the opportunity to thank the two elected officials for bringing an end to negotiations with the National Football League. \"As we move forward with a no-NFL plan for the Rose Bowl, the WPRA pledges our support in finding a way to preserve the Rose Bowl and stabilize its financial challenges,\' WPRA President Dorothy Lindsey said in the letter. The group emphasized that any viable Rose Bowl plan must protect the Arroyo Seco parkland, the historic status of the stadium, and the surrounding neighborhoods. These goals can only be met, the group argues, if control of the plan is taken away from the Rose Bowl Operating Company. \"We do not disparage the work of the RBOC, but we do have concerns about their ability to shed their strong pro- NFL position,\' Lindsey said. Among the groups the WPRA wants represented on the panel are the WPRA, the Linda Vista-Annandale and East Arroyo Residents associations, Pasadena Heritage, the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the RBOC and several city commissions. Mayor Bogaard said he has reviewed the proposal but was not prepared to offer an opinion on its merits. Instead, he said the divisiveness that surrounded the NFL debate demands he seek consensus before moving ahead with any Plan B proposal. \"I\'m not going to be the one to suggest how this gets structured, but I\'m going to ask the other council members to offer their views and see if a consensus doesn\'t develop,\' Bogaard said. The outcome of the pursuit of Plan B rests largely with who has control over the process. NFL opponents fear that the RBOC, if left to its own devices, would pursue Plan B in a half-hearted way with the underlying purpose of promoting Plan A: the NFL. There is evidence the RBOC remains skeptical that a workable Plan B can be developed. In a memo to the council, the RBOC warned that, without the NFL option, a \"very significant\' investment of public funds would be needed to put the Rose Bowl back on solid financial footing. \"I would invite anybody to step forward and say, \'I\'ve got the money to spend on the Rose Bowl to make it a competitive, state-of-the-art facility,\' \' said Bill Thomson, RBOC board member and former Pasadena councilman. There is also a question as to whether the three council members who most supported the NFL bid are willing to give the West Pasadena neighbors and preservationists any control over the process. \"I think there are plenty of folks around town that think the neighborhoods around the Rose Bowl hijacked the discussion here and didn\'t give the city a reasonable opportunity to pursue something that could have been a huge windfall,\' Councilman Paul Little said. Little called Plan B \"a fiction\' that pretends there are solutions that haven\'t already been explored. \"Plan B is going to be public financing or the status quo. I don\'t really think significant public financing is an option,\' Little said. Currently, the Rose Bowl loses about $2 million a year because of debt incurred on renovations made in the 1990s. To make up the difference, the city depends on revenues from the Brookside Golf Course. Additionally, the city has obligated itself to spend at least $12 million on facility improvements as part of the 20- year lease with UCLA. -- Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com . Staff writer Gene Maddaus contributed to this story. |
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