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The proposed Dodger stadium gondola is still alive, despite opposition. Here’s its 7-year history
A concept rendering for the proposed aerial gondola station at Dodger Stadium.
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Courtesy LA ART
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We were all going to soar above downtown L.A. in an aerial gondola of our dreams. Or so it was promised. But with strong community opposition, it’s now seven years later — with no sign of a completion date.
Here’s a short history of the ups and downs of the Dodger stadium gondola:
- 2004: Boston developer Frank McCourt buys the Dodgers from News Corp.
- 2012: McCourt's sale of Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management is finalized. Deal includes provision giving McCourt part ownership of parking lots.
- 2018: Buoyed by vision of reducing traffic at the stadium, McCourt partners with Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies to fund an environmental report and initial design.
- 2018: The gondola proposal is revealed to the public at a cost of $125 million. It’s envisioned to take five minutes from Union Station to Dodger Stadium and have the capacity to carry 5,000 fans an hour in each direction.
- 2018: Critics say it’s a vanity project that uses public land for private use and inevitably will use public money.
- 2021: The Stop the Gondola coalition forms to limit the impact on Union Station, El Pueblo, Chinatown, and the Los Angeles State Historic Park, as well as residents nearby.
- 2023: Gondola cost estimate balloons to $500 million.
- 2023: McCourt Global gifts the project to a new entity, Zero Emission Technologies (ZET), which will be responsible for building, financing, and operating the gondola.
- 2023: The environmental impact report highlights “significant and unavoidable” impacts such as major construction noise and vibration for two years.
- 2024: The Metro Board approves the project and certifies its environmental impact report.
- 2024: After a proposed amendment allows the gondola to be built over the 32 acre L.A. State Historic Park green space, residents push back at a public hearing.
- May 2025: The California Court of Appeals throws out Metro’s approval of the environmental impact report, saying it didn’t address construction noise and failed to consult the state agency that has jurisdiction over the parks. A new environmental impact report now must be created.
- August 2025: L.A. City Council unanimously votes to rescind support for Senate Bill 71, unless a provision favoring the gondola’s developer is removed.
Corrected August 20, 2025 at 11:00 AM PDT
The story has been updated to show Stop the Gondola began in 2021.
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