Rose Bowl renovation expenses soar $42 million as UCLA waits patiently
www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_22246620/rose-bowl-renovation-rolls-despite-increased-expense
Posted:
12/22/2012 02:12:04 PM PST
Updated:
12/22/2012 06:34:39 PM PST
A small, bronze plaque embedded in the Rose Bowl's concrete wall greets visitors to the legendary stadium.
It's the first thing Darryl Dunn, the Pasadena stadium's
general manager, points to as he walks through, explaining why an
ambitious $152 million renovation project has swelled dramatically in
both cost and duration.
The plaque, measuring less than a foot in either direction,
stands as a humble symbol for uncommon prestige: a spot as a National
Historic Landmark.
Only three other stadiums in the country share that
designation: Harvard Stadium, the Yale Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum.
Walk inside, though, and the history shows. In one section,
the red paint on rows of seats is fading. In another, the concrete is
stained with rusty orange-brown streaks.
"What we're trying to do - what we've been doing, not trying - is making the Rose Bowl viable for the future," Dunn says.
That goal has been delayed by fiscal reality. A gap had opened
up even before construction began, as fears of inflation depressed an
initial bond sale that brought in nearly $19 million less than expected.
That goal has been delayed by fiscal reality. When the stadium
renovation project first began in early 2011, it had a $152 million
budget and a three-year, three-phase timeline. The
plan bought 30-year lease
extensions for both the Tournament of Roses, which hosts the annual Rose
Bowl Game, and UCLA's football team, ensuring both tenants will remain
in Pasadena through 2042.
Nonetheless, since its inception, the cost of the renovation
climbed to more than $180 million, according to stadium officials. That
doesn't include $15 million in originally-planned elements that will no
longer be built, which would bring the overall cost to around $194
million.
That full version won't happen until around 2015 - well after the 2014 BCS Championship and the 100th edition of the Rosebowl Game.
None of that seems to bother Dunn on this particular
morning, as the Southern
California sun shimmers on grass that's just a week old. Manicured
lines on the field curve in gentle waves. As Dunn looks out, his voice
is dipped in optimism.
"This isn't just a football stadium," he says. "In many ways, it is hallowed ground."
Even the Sistine Chapel needed a restoration. As the Rose Bowl
aged, officials feared that it would be left behind in the
stadium-building rat race. When talks of other grand blueprints sprung
up in other corners of Los Angeles County, Pasadena didn't want to risk
losing its clout or historic pride - a fate that had snared other
venues.
The Orange Bowl, the longtime home of the University of Miami,
was demolished in 2008. The Cotton Bowl still stands, but lost its game
three years ago to Cowboys' Stadium, 20 miles west.
If the Rose Bowl hadn't renovated, Dunn fears it might have
lost out on the BCS bowl rotation, and
eventually even UCLA home games.
Its history as the site of Super Bowls, World Cup championships, Olympic
soccer gold medal games and outdoor concerts featuring the Rolling
Stones and U2, would be soon forgotten in the crush.
Newer Los Angeles stadiums - if built - would eventually get the business - possibly even the Rose Bowl Game itself.
"You have to give credit to the city to
continue to invest when temptations are across the country to scrap the
original stadium for more modern ones," says Pasadena City Manager
Michael Beck. "I think there's been a creative balance."
Tournament of Roses president Sally Bixby said her organization
maintains strong ties to the storied stadium and wants to see those ties
continue.
"The Rose Bowl is an iconic facility," she said. "We're invested in preserving it."
Renovation proceeded with five main goals: ensuring public
safety; enhancing fan experience; improving facility operations;
developing revenue streams; and maintaining national landmark status.
The problem was that no one foresaw a litany of increased
costs. From bid overruns to increased labor costs to missing historical
construction drawings, the Rose Bowl Operating Co., which Dunn heads,
saw its bills quickly multiply. Two months ago, the RBOC even discussed
potential litigation against a fired contractor.
The stadium's national landmark status presented particular
challenges. For example, the berm beneath the press box was considered
part of the historic landscape; extra time and money was spent on trying
to figure out ways to preserve it. After further analysis, unstable
soil conditions forced the project team to dismantle the berm and work
directly from the concourse level.
Dunn says that while he does not regret pursuing the project, he wishes they had established greater contingency.
"Pretend you have a 90-year-old house," he says. "Imagine all the behind-the-scenes stuff you have to do. It's huge."
Dunn believes in the project and urges patience.
UCLA is exercising patience as well. Athletic director Dan
Guerrero says that if stadium construction doesn't reach substantial
completion by a certain time, the school would receive financial
remedies. UCLA and the Rose Bowl are still negotiating what that would
entail. With features like the new press box, scoreboard and video
screen already in use, Guerrero doesn't anticipate that happening.
UCLA is exercising
patience as well. Athletic director Dan Guerrero says that if stadium
construction doesn't reach substantial completion by a certain time, the
school would receive financial remedies. UCLA and the Rose Bowl are
still negotiating what that would entail. With features like the new
press box, scoreboard and video screen already in use, Guerrero doesn't
anticipate that happening.
"We don't believe we're going to be in that situation, based
on discussions that we've had," Guerrero says. "We're working together
to come to an agreement that will benefit both parties."
The slow pace of construction hasn't hurt ticket sales. This
year, the Bruins saw a 21-percent increase compared to last year. The
turnaround success of Jim Mora's nine-win football team certainly helped
that mark, one bested by just two other teams in the country.
In a move that symbolically cemented the school's relationship
with the stadium, the new press box was renamed Terry Donahue Pavilion,
after the winningest coach in program history. Without a stadium on
campus, the Bruins were never keen on moving elsewhere.
"There aren't a whole lot of options in Southern California right now," Guerrero says. "This is a place that's been our home."
The new press box pavilion has a control center and broadcast
room. Four tunnels each on the north and south ends have already been
widened from roughly 6 1/2-feet wide to nearly 15 feet. Work still
remains, such as removing rows of unused seats and installing a hedge
and field-level entrance for fans in lower-level seats to use.
Beck said the stadium currently has $134 million on hand
designated for construction. An incoming short-term $6 million loan from
the city still leaves a funding gap of more than $40 million. Some
money will come from fundraising by Legacy Connections, a private group
of community members, as well as miscellaneous revenues such as $4
million from the BCS Championship.
Legacy expects to raise $20 million. So far pledges total $8 million, officials said.
Hope for progress is largely dependent on a plan to borrow
from a $30 million bond, which the City Council will vote on Jan. 7. If
it doesn't pass muster, no new construction can begin. That would leave
the new pavilion, scheduled to complete its remaining floors in April,
unfinished.
Even if that money comes through, not all of the other
renovations will be complete in time for the BCS Championship and the
Rose Bowl Game's 100th anniversary - a missed opportunity, to say the
least. Obvious signs of construction will be gone, but a planned return
to the stadium's historic elliptical shape may not yet be complete.
Neither would an expanded concourse.
On college football's biggest stage, a day when ESPN will pan
its cameras over Arroyo Seco, the Rose Bowl will still be a little short
of what it eventually hopes to be.
"We would love to have had everything done by the BCS game,"
Dunn says. "But I think the people who come here, they'll be impressed."
Adds Beck: "The original vision is still going to be achieved. Just on a different timeline."
A move by an NFL team
into the stadium - still opposed by many neighborhood groups - would be a
boon to the Rose Bowl's bottom line, but isn't being factored into the
budget. That income could go to building deferred features as well as
elements that were discussed but never planned: a timeline that wraps
around the concourse, a grand entrance, a museum.
"We don't anticipate NFL revenue as part of the financial
plan, but it would give us an opportunity to continue to invest in the
stadium and help resolve some of the funding shortfalls," Beck says.
Renovation by the numbers
Started: Jan. 10, 2011
Bulk of project to be completed by: Jan. 1, 2014
Original Estimated Cost: $152 million
Current Estimated Cost: $194 million
Original Funding Gap: $20 million
Current Funding Gap: $54 million
Private fundraising goal: $20 million
Pledges toward that goal: $8 million
UCLA has agreed to play its home games at the Rose Bowl through 2042.
The Tournament of Roses Association has agreed to stage the Rose Bowl Game there through at least 2043.
Rose Bowl timeline
1897: City of Pasadena purchased 10 acres of land in the Arroyo Seco area.
1921: Tournament of Roses Association commences construction of Rose Bowl stadium.
1922: Stadium construction completed. First football game played in the Rose Bowl.
1923: Rose Bowl is officially dedicated.
1929: The south end of the stadium is enclosed.
1931: Wooden sections of the Rose Bowl are removed and
replaced with reinforced concrete. The addition of 10,000 seats
increases total capacity to 83,000.
1949: Stadium is enlarged to seat 94,410, a $335,000 improvement.
1969: Wooden benches are replaced with aluminum seating.
1991: Tournament of Roses Association accepts the city's
request to renovate the press box, tripling capacity to more than 1,000.
1992: Construction
completed on $11.5 million three-level structure at the Rose Bowl
providing state-of-the-art facilities for news media and spectators in
the Executive and Club Suites. The seating capacity increases from 330
to 1,200.
1992: The Rose Bowl is designated as an engineering landmark
by the American Society of Civil Engineers. After many renovations, the
Rose Bowl seating capacity is 104,594.
1993: $2 million renovation of the Rose Bowl is a gift from
World Cup USA 1994 Inc. to the city of Pasadena. The field is widened to
224 feet and lengthened to 345 feet. Permanent ramps are installed for
the disabled. New seating capacity - 100,184
1996: The Rose Bowl undergoes a $21.5 million renovation
including a new sound system, scoreboards, video board, elevator with
field access and restrooms.
2011: The Rose Bowl begins a $152 million renovation,
including a new premium seating pavilion, widened tunnels, and new LED
video board. It is the largest investment in the history of the iconic
structure. The majority of improvements are slated for completion before
the 100th Rose Bowl Game and the next BCS National Championship game in
January 2014. When complete the stadium will seat about 88,500.
It's the first thing Darryl Dunn, the Pasadena stadium's general manager, points to as he walks through, explaining why an ambitious $152 million renovation project has swelled dramatically in both cost and duration.
The plaque, measuring less than a foot in either direction, stands as a humble symbol for uncommon prestige: a spot as a National Historic Landmark.
Only three other stadiums in the country share that designation: Harvard Stadium, the Yale Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Walk inside, though, and the history shows. In one section, the red paint on rows of seats is fading. In another, the concrete is stained with rusty orange-brown streaks.
"What we're trying to do - what we've been doing, not trying - is making the Rose Bowl viable for the future," Dunn says.
That goal has been delayed by fiscal reality. A gap had opened up even before construction began, as fears of inflation depressed an initial bond sale that brought in nearly $19 million less than expected.
That goal has been delayed by fiscal reality. When the stadium renovation project first began in early 2011, it had a $152 million budget and a three-year, three-phase timeline. The
Nonetheless, since its inception, the cost of the renovation climbed to more than $180 million, according to stadium officials. That doesn't include $15 million in originally-planned elements that will no longer be built, which would bring the overall cost to around $194 million.
That full version won't happen until around 2015 - well after the 2014 BCS Championship and the 100th edition of the Rosebowl Game.
None of that seems to bother Dunn on this particular
morning, as the Southern California sun shimmers on grass that's just a week old. Manicured lines on the field curve in gentle waves. As Dunn looks out, his voice is dipped in optimism.
"This isn't just a football stadium," he says. "In many ways, it is hallowed ground."
Even the Sistine Chapel needed a restoration. As the Rose Bowl aged, officials feared that it would be left behind in the stadium-building rat race. When talks of other grand blueprints sprung up in other corners of Los Angeles County, Pasadena didn't want to risk losing its clout or historic pride - a fate that had snared other venues.
The Orange Bowl, the longtime home of the University of Miami, was demolished in 2008. The Cotton Bowl still stands, but lost its game three years ago to Cowboys' Stadium, 20 miles west.
If the Rose Bowl hadn't renovated, Dunn fears it might have lost out on the BCS bowl rotation, and
eventually even UCLA home games. Its history as the site of Super Bowls, World Cup championships, Olympic soccer gold medal games and outdoor concerts featuring the Rolling Stones and U2, would be soon forgotten in the crush.
Newer Los Angeles stadiums - if built - would eventually get the business - possibly even the Rose Bowl Game itself.
"You have to give credit to the city to continue to invest when temptations are across the country to scrap the original stadium for more modern ones," says Pasadena City Manager Michael Beck. "I think there's been a creative balance."
Tournament of Roses president Sally Bixby said her organization maintains strong ties to the storied stadium and wants to see those ties continue.
"The Rose Bowl is an iconic facility," she said. "We're invested in preserving it."
Renovation proceeded with five main goals: ensuring public safety; enhancing fan experience; improving facility operations; developing revenue streams; and maintaining national landmark status.
The problem was that no one foresaw a litany of increased costs. From bid overruns to increased labor costs to missing historical construction drawings, the Rose Bowl Operating Co., which Dunn heads, saw its bills quickly multiply. Two months ago, the RBOC even discussed potential litigation against a fired contractor.
The stadium's national landmark status presented particular challenges. For example, the berm beneath the press box was considered part of the historic landscape; extra time and money was spent on trying to figure out ways to preserve it. After further analysis, unstable soil conditions forced the project team to dismantle the berm and work directly from the concourse level.
Dunn says that while he does not regret pursuing the project, he wishes they had established greater contingency.
"Pretend you have a 90-year-old house," he says. "Imagine all the behind-the-scenes stuff you have to do. It's huge."
Dunn believes in the project and urges patience.
UCLA is exercising patience as well. Athletic director Dan Guerrero says that if stadium construction doesn't reach substantial completion by a certain time, the school would receive financial remedies. UCLA and the Rose Bowl are still negotiating what that would entail. With features like the new press box, scoreboard and video screen already in use, Guerrero doesn't anticipate that happening.
UCLA is exercising patience as well. Athletic director Dan Guerrero says that if stadium construction doesn't reach substantial completion by a certain time, the school would receive financial remedies. UCLA and the Rose Bowl are still negotiating what that would entail. With features like the new press box, scoreboard and video screen already in use, Guerrero doesn't anticipate that happening.
"We don't believe we're going to be in that situation, based on discussions that we've had," Guerrero says. "We're working together to come to an agreement that will benefit both parties."
The slow pace of construction hasn't hurt ticket sales. This year, the Bruins saw a 21-percent increase compared to last year. The turnaround success of Jim Mora's nine-win football team certainly helped that mark, one bested by just two other teams in the country.
In a move that symbolically cemented the school's relationship with the stadium, the new press box was renamed Terry Donahue Pavilion, after the winningest coach in program history. Without a stadium on campus, the Bruins were never keen on moving elsewhere.
"There aren't a whole lot of options in Southern California right now," Guerrero says. "This is a place that's been our home."
The new press box pavilion has a control center and broadcast room. Four tunnels each on the north and south ends have already been widened from roughly 6 1/2-feet wide to nearly 15 feet. Work still remains, such as removing rows of unused seats and installing a hedge and field-level entrance for fans in lower-level seats to use.
Beck said the stadium currently has $134 million on hand designated for construction. An incoming short-term $6 million loan from the city still leaves a funding gap of more than $40 million. Some money will come from fundraising by Legacy Connections, a private group of community members, as well as miscellaneous revenues such as $4 million from the BCS Championship.
Legacy expects to raise $20 million. So far pledges total $8 million, officials said.
Hope for progress is largely dependent on a plan to borrow from a $30 million bond, which the City Council will vote on Jan. 7. If it doesn't pass muster, no new construction can begin. That would leave the new pavilion, scheduled to complete its remaining floors in April, unfinished.
Even if that money comes through, not all of the other renovations will be complete in time for the BCS Championship and the Rose Bowl Game's 100th anniversary - a missed opportunity, to say the least. Obvious signs of construction will be gone, but a planned return to the stadium's historic elliptical shape may not yet be complete. Neither would an expanded concourse.
On college football's biggest stage, a day when ESPN will pan its cameras over Arroyo Seco, the Rose Bowl will still be a little short of what it eventually hopes to be.
"We would love to have had everything done by the BCS game," Dunn says. "But I think the people who come here, they'll be impressed."
Adds Beck: "The original vision is still going to be achieved. Just on a different timeline."
A move by an NFL team into the stadium - still opposed by many neighborhood groups - would be a boon to the Rose Bowl's bottom line, but isn't being factored into the budget. That income could go to building deferred features as well as elements that were discussed but never planned: a timeline that wraps around the concourse, a grand entrance, a museum.
"We don't anticipate NFL revenue as part of the financial plan, but it would give us an opportunity to continue to invest in the stadium and help resolve some of the funding shortfalls," Beck says.
Renovation by the numbers
Started: Jan. 10, 2011
Bulk of project to be completed by: Jan. 1, 2014
Original Estimated Cost: $152 million
Current Estimated Cost: $194 million
Original Funding Gap: $20 million
Current Funding Gap: $54 million
Private fundraising goal: $20 million
Pledges toward that goal: $8 million
UCLA has agreed to play its home games at the Rose Bowl through 2042.
The Tournament of Roses Association has agreed to stage the Rose Bowl Game there through at least 2043.
Rose Bowl timeline
1897: City of Pasadena purchased 10 acres of land in the Arroyo Seco area.
1921: Tournament of Roses Association commences construction of Rose Bowl stadium.
1922: Stadium construction completed. First football game played in the Rose Bowl.
1923: Rose Bowl is officially dedicated.
1929: The south end of the stadium is enclosed.
1931: Wooden sections of the Rose Bowl are removed and replaced with reinforced concrete. The addition of 10,000 seats increases total capacity to 83,000.
1949: Stadium is enlarged to seat 94,410, a $335,000 improvement.
1969: Wooden benches are replaced with aluminum seating.
1991: Tournament of Roses Association accepts the city's request to renovate the press box, tripling capacity to more than 1,000.
1992: Construction completed on $11.5 million three-level structure at the Rose Bowl providing state-of-the-art facilities for news media and spectators in the Executive and Club Suites. The seating capacity increases from 330 to 1,200.
1992: The Rose Bowl is designated as an engineering landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. After many renovations, the Rose Bowl seating capacity is 104,594.
1993: $2 million renovation of the Rose Bowl is a gift from World Cup USA 1994 Inc. to the city of Pasadena. The field is widened to 224 feet and lengthened to 345 feet. Permanent ramps are installed for the disabled. New seating capacity - 100,184
1996: The Rose Bowl undergoes a $21.5 million renovation including a new sound system, scoreboards, video board, elevator with field access and restrooms.
2011: The Rose Bowl begins a $152 million renovation, including a new premium seating pavilion, widened tunnels, and new LED video board. It is the largest investment in the history of the iconic structure. The majority of improvements are slated for completion before the 100th Rose Bowl Game and the next BCS National Championship game in January 2014. When complete the stadium will seat about 88,500.