News of the Arroyo
Title: | Finding Plan B for Rose Bowl |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2006-06-14 |
Summary: | June 14, 2006 - The Star News editorializes the new plans for the Rose Bowl should put it in the context of the Arroyo Seco. |
Author: | Editorial |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | IT\'S easy enough to see why some find the term Plan B in reference to the Rose Bowl\'s future as a little bit less than elegant. Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard prefers the 2006 Rose Bowl Strategic Plan, and that is certainly an accurate description of what the city of Pasadena, the Rose Bowl Operating Company, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association and the UCLA Bruins are seeking to create together. But we don\'t really mind Plan B, as shorthand at least. Plan A, bringing an NFL team to the stadium, though still alive as a pipe dream, was a bust. So after A comes B - and what\'s inelegant about that? The professional football league doesn\'t really want to come to Pasadena with its Southern California expansion team, and the majority of the Pasadena City Council, responding to thousands of constituents who would find their Arroyo Seco recreation severely limited by the NFL, decided to punt rather than go for it here at fourth down and long yardage. Even though many thousands of Pasadenans and many thousands more from outside the city use the Arroyo Seco to run, walk, bike, hike, golf, bird-watch, play soccer and baseball, go to Kidspace or just as a quiet urban-country place to fall asleep on a blanket in Brookside Park, it\'s true that most Pasadenans don\'t do so. So, if the November election goes through, we would think that a majority of voters, well-informed or not, would say \"yes\" to the idea at least of entertaining an NFL team locally. The main problem with that resounding vote of confidence in professional football coming to the financial rescue of the aging Rose Bowl is that very likely the NFL will have formally made a deal with another city and stadium by then. That city will likely be Los Angeles and the stadium the Coliseum. Talk about your moot-point election. Meanwhile, people concerned about the Rose Bowl who also realize the big-bucks gridiron gang isn\'t coming to town are responsibly going forward by soliciting suggestions. You may participate in making those suggestions yourself by going to the online poll at www.rosebowlstadium.com. As these things go, the questions won\'t take long to complete; again, as these things go, they aren\'t overly rigged to guarantee a certain result. If you know anything about the stadium and its neighborhood history, though, you can take a very educated guess as to how most locals will answer the \"Thrill/Dirt Shows/Motocross\" section requesting views on alternatives to college football at the stadium. Other revenue-enhancing alternatives offered up for your potential pleasure are soccer, concerts (with categories for say, the Rolling Stones - over 50,000; say, Lilith Fair - 25,000 to 50,000; and, say, Giant Drag - under 25,000.) Minor events (Cirque du Soleil is mentioned here) and corporate events are also available for your vote. We\'ll look forward to the results of the survey, which will be up until June 20 or so. But we also know it\'s not going to produce the definitive answer for either the future of the stadium or the immense recreational, natural and historical appeal of the Arroyo Seco. That answer will come from a holistic study of the way everything interacts down in Pasadena\'s favorite canyon and the way everything might interact even better as we strive to maximize our options. |
Url: |