[Last updated 4/29/20 9:33 PM PT with naming rights to the field]
[Updated 7/12/19 8:44 PM PT with new info on the zodiac mural]
A couple weeks ago, I spotted a tweet about historic tours being offered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and I jumped all over it. I'd long been fascinated with that place, maybe because I'd already visited the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and the completionist in me needed to also see where the 1984 Summer Olympics took place.
Or maybe it's because many of the other traces of the 1932 Olympics – including the world's first-ever Olympic Village,
in Baldwin Hills – have vanished.
Or maybe it's just because I'd never been there before, but I've been to an actual Roman coliseum. Feeling a bit wistful for
the Roman ruins of Tunisia, this is as close as I can get in Southern California.
I was actually the first member of the media to take the tour, and so I wrote
an article about it for
KCET's Travel Excursions section which you can read
here. But, in typical fashion, I took so many great photos that haven't been published elsewhere, and it's just so hard for me to visit any place and not
show it to you.
So here, take a gander.
My first visit to the Coliseum was exciting, replete with an actual printed Ticketmaster ticket (even though I had a press pass) and a wristband – and access through those darned locked gates.
I'd tried to
ride my bike around the Coliseum once before, past the nude athlete sculptures of the Olympic Gateway by
Robert Graham...
...and got booted out by security.
Now I could walk right through those arches of the peristyle.
The Coliseum was built as kind of a 1920s version of the Roman Colosseum, and for authenticity, stone relics from the original Colosseum site and from the Greek ancient site Altis in Olympia are on display in the forecourt.
There's a zodiac-themed gold leaf mural painted at the top of the center arch, which was used as the Olympic Gateway for the '84 Summer Olympics.
[Ed: According to the LA Times, the mural was recently rediscovered to be the work of painter Heinz Rosien. It was restored in 2019 under consultation with Rosien's son Igor, who'd helped paint it in 1969.]
Although it had a stint as "Olympic Stadium," the Coliseum was always conceived as a memorial...
...first of World War II veterans, and later of all veterans.
The two Olympiads which have taken place here kind of overshadow the war memorial aspect of the stadium...
...giving way to an entirely different type of patriotism, in which we battle our rival countries for gold medals.
The peristyle has been converted into a "Court of Honor"...
...which pays tribute to the various athletes and coaches which have used the Coliseum as their home field – like the USC Trojans – as well as a few other legends like Dodgers announcer Vin Scully.
Through the arches, you can see the giant dial thermometer that was installed in 1955...
...and repaired in 2013 after it had been stuck at 70 degrees for a decade.
You can't get
onto the field itself
[Ed: which was renamed "United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum" in 2019] ...
...but you can walk down the original concrete steps of the "bowl"...
...and weave your way through the seats and benches...
...each section of which seems to be from a different era.
There's something kind of magical about seeing this place perfectly empty...
...but the real treat of tours like this is when you get to walk through the tunnels...
...(particularly those reserved for teams)...
...and see all the secret, hidden places where the public is never allowed to go.
The climax of the Coliseum tour was getting up on the roof...
...which felt both special and transgressive...
....and gave us the best vantage point to see the bowl below...
...and the mountains beyond.
The press box is sparse and not air conditioned...
...and the board room is a bit gloomy...
...but it's cool to be able to see some of the more private, behind the scenes areas...
...like the home team locker room...
...and the intentionally dismal visiting team locker room.
You can almost hear the crowds roar, singing the words of USC's official fight song "Fight On!"...
...and you can almost imagine the flames still flickering out of the Olympic torch (which actually still is lit during home games and even weddings).
The Coliseum has been renovated (and threatened) many times. Its fate always seems a bit unsure. So since its flame may not exactly be eternal, it's time to go visit it now, while it's still burning.
And before the new NFL Stadium is erected in Inglewood.
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