New vision for Rose Bowl unveiled

The Rose Bowl should operate more like Yankee Stadium or the Heineken brewery, according to a report issued this week by a private urban planning group.

Experts from the Urban Land Institute, a research institute specializing in responsible land use, called on Pasadena officials to preserve the nature of the Arroyo Seco and offset the costs of a current Rose Bowl renovation by offering stadium tours, creating merchandise and charging for parking at the stadium, even when no official event is taking place.

The report, issued Thursday, also called for the creation of a nonprofit group to oversee all the features of the heavily used recreational area.

“You have as many agencies managing this arroyo as Washington, D.C.,” the institute’s Richard Perlmutter said Thursday at a Brookside Golf Club presentation.

Government agencies, including the Rose Bowl Operating Co., the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and Pasadena’s Public Works Department, share oversight of the Arroyo Seco, creating a “fractured government structure,” Perlmutter told the Glendale News-Press.

The recommendations come as the 89-year-old Rose Bowl is undergoing a $160-million renovation that includes expanded luxury seating, larger tunnels and a new video screen. The work is scheduled to be completed before the 2014 Rose Bowl game.

Officials are looking to plug a $20-million funding gap for the project by raising private funds and possibly scaling back some of the planned work.

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-- Adolfo Flores, Times Community News