News of the Arroyo
Title: | Rose Bowl Plan B: Let tempers cool |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-06-21 |
Summary: | June 21, 2005 - A Star News editorial sums up the Rose Bowl NFL conclusion: "Pasadenans have made it clear that any new plans for the Rose Bowl will be part of a holistic look at the Arroyo Seco, the most popular natural recreation area in inland Southern California." |
Author: | Editorial |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - SOMETIMES it\'s too soon to kiss and make up. Folks have to stew a while first. That\'s quite clearly the situation as a divided Pasadena considers a Plan B for the Rose Bowl. Now that the City Council has declined to continue to pursue a bid to bring a National Football League team to the 80-year-old stadium, some community members suggest creating a blue-ribbon panel to formulate other ways the bowl can generate money. But after intensive months of backing the NFL plan, and years of tossing the ol\' pigskin around, others associated with the bid are not about to even consider participating in such talks just yet. It\'s understandable. For all but the saintliest among us, to be able to engage in and then lose a pitched battle focused on following Plan A and then turn to Plan B with equal fervor -- it\'s just not possible. To even grudgingly say, \"OK --give it a shot your way\" is too much for some. For people of goodwill on both sides, that will change -- eventually. For now, the rhetoric of the die-hards will remain hot. After some months, say, a Councilman Paul Little may not be so fervently convinced that \"folks around town,\" presumably including himself, \"think the neighborhoods around the Rose Bowl hijacked the discussion\" about the wisdom of pursuing the NFL. What some call a hijacking others would call the democratic process. If a city interest group decided to mess with tradition in north-central Pas -- suggest texture-coating the shingles of Bungalow Heaven houses, say -- there would be an outcry in Little\'s district as well. And the professed desires of the West Pasadena Residents Association to now do an end-run entirely around the members of the citizen volunteers of the Rose Bowl Operating Company board who backed the NFL will, we hope, also disappear. That entrepreneurial board was set up over a decade ago to ensure that the treasured Rose Bowl avoids the sad fates of several other older stadiums around the country: becoming both a white elephant and a large financial burden. To leave the RBOC out of the process would be akin to leaving the Historic Preservation Commission out of reviewing a proposal to paint the Gamble House purple. Its charge is the current and future health of the Rose Bowl, and its members have performed their jobs superbly. Now they will have to get used to the fact that significant community opposition put to rest the idea of negotiating with an NFL that didn\'t seem to have the best interests of either the stadium or the city of Pasadena in mind. And, sooner or later, they will likely agree that taking a look at other revenue-generating plans couldn\'t hurt. We like the idea of convening a blue-ribbon Rose Bowl panel once tempers have cooled. We certainly think that neighborhood leaders, preservationists, park advocates and environmentalists deserve places on it. So do RBOC representatives. All heat-of-the-moment bluster aside, we believe that panel will start with the fact that the stadium is bruised, not busted. It has always been \"subsidized\" by the city, the same as every other city building is. And that has always been a successful investment. The financial windfall the city and its private businesses and homeowners have thereby reaped over the decades by being associated with the hallowed place is incalculable. It has a new 20-year contract with the UCLA Bruins, a happy and stable tenant with a great place to play football. The university needs to get involved with Rose Bowl improvements and maintenance as well. Proposals to levy ticket surcharges to lessen the reliance on Brookside Golf Course revenue to maintain the Rose Bowl need to be seriously considered. A $3 charge on UCLA tickets and $10 bumps on Rose Bowl Game and BCS tickets add up to the $2 million right away. Other creative proposals will be forthcoming. Pasadenans have made it clear that any new plans for the Rose Bowl will be part of a holistic look at the Arroyo Seco, the most popular natural recreation area in inland Southern California. And pretty soon, they\'ll be able to sit down again and talk about such plans. |
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