Plans for extensive renovations of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum "leave a critical -- and potentially costly -- issue unresolved" regarding how much work "will be needed to harden the structure against earthquakes in time to make a credible bid for the 2024 Olympics," according to Michael Blood of the AP. USC last month announced a $270M makeover for the stadium, but those preliminary plans "offered no details" about how a venue that was badly damaged in the '94 Northridge earthquake "could be redesigned while making it strong enough to host a worldwide sporting event in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions." Records show that USOC officials asked the LA 2024 committee if a "recent earthquake study was conducted at the coliseum and, if so, what it revealed." The L.A. committee answered that studies "would be conducted by USC consultants." The Coliseum, "constructed long before modern building codes, was severely damaged" during the '94 earthquake despite being located "roughly 20 miles southeast of the quake's epicenter." USC's renovation plans "call for constructing a towering, glass-walled structure within the bowl -- like a building within a building -- for luxury suites, premium seating and a new press box, capped by a viewing deck." The changes would "reduce the stadium's capacity from 93,600 to 77,500." Significant structural changes, and the weight that comes with them, can "add stress in the event of strong ground shaking" (AP, 11/10).
