20 <strong>Inglewood</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>Jan</strong>uary - March <strong>2017</strong>
IBM Feature Ground Breaking NFL Commissioner Roger Godell, Team Owner Stan Kreonke, Los Angeles Rams Royalty and <strong>Inglewood</strong> City Leaders celebrate the ground breaking ceremony for the new NFL Stadium in <strong>Inglewood</strong>, California Dump trucks and skip-loaders around huge dirt mounds as NFL officials and <strong>Inglewood</strong> leaders gathered for the Los Angeles Rams Stadium groundbreaking ceremony. Rams owner Stan Kroenke and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell joined Mayor James Butts and Hall-of-Famers Jack Youngblood and Eric Dickerson to ceremonially shovel some soil for above-ground construction at what is billed as much more than a $2.6 billion stadium. Current Rams Aaron Donald and Johnny Hekker also attended. “We, as the NFL, couldn’t be more excited,” Goodell said. “We are confident this is going to be the place to be in 2019 and beyond — not just for football but for entertainment, for events, for eating, for living, for working. “We spent so much time in this market, knowing how great the fans were, how successful the franchise would be, but we had to get it right,” Goodell said the efforts to return an NFL franchise to Los Angeles. “And, this is right. “It’s going be a great project.” The Rams stadium and its accompanying developments are slated to debut in August 2019, followed by lakes and public walking trails, retail, dining, offices and homes. When it’s all finished, the 70,000-seat open-air stadium will be surrounded by 2 million square feet of retail stores, a 6,000-seat performance venue, a theater, 2,500 homes, and 25 acres of public parks. The team will continue to play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until its new home is done. Unable to get a new stadium built in San Diego, it also looks like the Chargers will take the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and share the new <strong>Inglewood</strong> stadium with the Rams. The Chargers have until <strong>Jan</strong>uary 15th <strong>2017</strong> to make a final decision. Kroenke said he envisioned the world-class complex years ago while driving the streets one pre-dawn morning perusing available lots. continued on page 23... <strong>Inglewood</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>Jan</strong>uary - March <strong>2017</strong> 21