Best Out of One
Renovation of the aging Coliseum took center stage at the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce last week, as directors met to discuss the future of NFL football in Los Angeles.
In a closed-session vote, the board agreed that a hoped-for NFL team should play in a rebuilt Memorial Coliseum, said chamber President Ezunial “Eze” Burts.
Burts declined to disclose how close the vote was, however.
“There is a facility, there is a proposal (to renovate it), and it’s the one the city’s rallying behind,” Burts said. “The mayor’s behind it, the majority of the City Council is behind it, and it’s a proposed facility that meets the requirements of the NFL.”
The vote comes as Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, is pushing to get alternatives to the Coliseum considered, including a brand-new stadium in the South Park area.
“It was a majority vote, but they only reviewed the one project (the Coliseum),” said Polanco’s chief aide Bill Mabie. “They selected the Coliseum as the best out of one.”
Stealth Civic Center Plan?
“THE SECRET’S OUT” the Daily News trumpeted in an Aug. 3 headline detailing plans for new city, county, state and federal buildings in the downtown Civic Center. “The plan is a virtual secret,” the paper said of the proposed “10-Minute Diamond” plan, named for the time it takes to walk to any of the four corners of the area.
A secret plan? Not to the more than 1 million subscribers of the L.A. Times, which printed a detailed story on the 10-Minute Diamond plan last Dec. 3.
The story had some in City Hall shaking their heads. “The secret part of it was confusing,” said Rocky Delgadillo, deputy mayor for economic development.
Clang, Clang, Clang in Culver City
“Old World charm” has come to the City of Culver City in the form of a street trolley, city officials announced last week.
Street trolleys haven’t touched asphalt on L.A. streets since the last Red Car rumbled down the Long Beach route in 1961, but Culver City’s redevelopment agency thought the service would be a good vehicle to get people to discover “lunching and shopping opportunities” in the Westside city.
Culver City might not boast the melancholy weather and hilly terrain of the best-known trolley city, San Francisco, but you can’t beat its price: rides on the trolley are free until Sept. 1.
Sands and Signs
Realtor Fred Sands was on the Mark & Brian Show on KLOS-95.5 FM last week to discuss his latest listing: O.J. Simpson’s Brentwood estate, which was put on the market for $3.95 million by owner Hawthorne Savings.
The two radio personalities expressed surprise that there was an actual Fred Sands, saying they thought it was just a made-up company name.
Sands played along with the joke. “There is no Fred Sands,” he said. “I’m just a lawn sign.”
Ice Cold Donuts
It’s 107 degrees outside. Quick, what do you want to do? Jump in a pool? Drink a cold beer?
How about eat donuts?
That was a suggestion from Morgan Marketing & Public Relations, in a heroic, if desperate, attempt to transform last week’s heat wave into a marketing opportunity.
The Irvine-based firm, which handles P.R. chores for Winchell’s Donuts, sent out the following release last week: “With summer temperatures soaring, who wants to sweat it out in the kitchen? Inexpensive foods that are time efficient offer consumers a cost-effective alternative.”
