L.A. Officials Look To Alternate Convention Center Plans With AEG/NFL Talks Stalled

With the prospect of a new football stadium in downtown L.A. "seeming increasingly unlikely," city officials yesterday voted to "move forward with an alternate plan for remaking the city-owned convention center," according to Dakota Smith of the L.A. DAILY NEWS. The facility was "supposed to have been expanded" as part of AEG’s overall $1.5B plan to build Farmers Field. But with the "clock ticking on the stadium deal, and the NFL elusive about plans" to bring football back to L.A., officials are "seeking other options." L.A. Convention Center Exec Dir Bud Ovrom said, "We have a fiduciary responsibility to have a fallback plan." Ovrom said he was told by an AEG rep that "a lot of progress isn't being made" between the NFL and AEG. The City Council in '12 "approved AEG’s proposal for a 72,000-seat football stadium near Staples Center." The deal with AEG "expires in October, although there is speculation the city will extend the agreement" until spring '15 (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 5/28).