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It's been a couple months in the making, but the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is finally no more.
The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) just posted a timelapse video of the final days of the arena. In the video, the building starts off as a half-demolished ruin, but ends up as nothing more than a pile of rubble.
The building was destroyed to make room for a new "soccer-specific" stadium for LAFC, who'll start their first season with Major League Soccer in 2018. The new stadium is slated to cost around $250 million and seat a capacity of 22,000.
It's a bit unfair, really, how overlooked the old Sports Arena was. The arena lacked a regular tenant that brought in fanfare. The Lakers made the Great Western Forum legendary. USC's football team (as well as the Raiders and the Rams) turned the Memorial Coliseum into hallowed grounds. The Sports Arena's longest-standing tenant, on the other hand, was a Clippers team that languished through the 80s and the 90s. Also, there was nothing too spectacular about the arena's facade, which meant it mostly blended into the background.
The arena had history, however. As we've profiled in the past, the building was home to the 1960 Democratic National Convention in which John F. Kennedy was nominated for president. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also stood on stage to address a capacity crowd. The arena had also hosted concerts by Michael Jackson, U2, Madonna, and Bruce Springsteen. Also, here's one bit of trivia you can drop on your friends: both the Lakers and the L.A. Kings had brief stints in the building.
Farewell, Sports Arena, we will remember you fondly.
