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Watch The Demolition Of L.A.'s Famed Sports Arena In Real Time
Rendering of what the completed new Banc of California Stadium will look like. (Courtesy of Banc of California Stadium)
The iconic Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is being demolished as we speak, soon to be replaced with a shiny new stadium to house the Los Angeles Football Club. Exposition Park's forthcoming Banc of California Stadium will seat 22,000 people and is scheduled to be completed in 2018, but in the meantime you can watch a live-cam of the demolition in progress, which we discovered by way of veteran L.A. journalist Richard Rushfield's The Native Angeleno. Here are some timelapses from yesterday and today:
(GIF by Julia Wick/LAist, via Banc of California Stadium Cam)
(GIF by Julia Wick/LAist, via Banc of California Stadium Cam)
The soon-to-be constructed arena will be the first new open-air stadium to be built in Los Angeles since Dodger Stadium was erected in 1962—it will also be the country's most expensive privately financed soccer stadium, according to the L.A. Times.
The Exposition Park arena has been the backdrop for more than its fair share of local history in the half-century since it opened its doors. It was the Lakers' first residence in L.A. when they moved from their native Minneapolis, housing the team from from 1960 to '67. The Clippers, the Kings, USC Basketball and UCLA Basketball have all called it home at some point, along with a number of different lesser-known L.A. teams (the Blades, the Sharks, the Stars, the Ice Dogs, and the Cobras). The 15,000-person capacity auditorium was also where John F. Kennedy accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 1960. Everyone from the Grateful Dead to Michael Jackson performed there.
Related: Photos: The Amazing History Of The Soon-To-Be Demolished L.A. Sports Arena