LOS ANGELES (AP) – A report commissioned by the developer of a downtown Los Angeles football stadium warns that a rival project nearby could be a potential terrorist target because of its proximity to Los Angeles International Airport.
The report was released Friday at a time when several potential stadium projects are competing to bring an NFL team to Southern California, two decades after the Rams and Raiders pulled out.
The 14-page report was commissioned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which wants to build a stadium in downtown Los Angeles. A development venture linked to Rams owner Stan Kroenke has proposed a stadium in Inglewood, about 10 miles from downtown.
The report by former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge finds that constructing an 80,000-seat stadium in Inglewood – as close as 2.5 miles from an airport runway – ”materially increases the risk of a terrorist event.”
Ridge concluded that in a world when terrorism is a recognized threat that ”the peril of placing a National Football League stadium in the direct flight path of (the airport)” … outweighs whatever benefits it would bring over its lifespan.
The Hollywood Park Land Co., which is developing the Inglewood site, declined comment. AEG also declined comment.
The Los Angeles area has become the hottest market for stadiums in the country, though the NFL must approve any plan for relocation, a lengthy and complex process.
The Raiders and the San Diego Chargers announced last week that they are planning a shared stadium in Carson, also in the Los Angeles suburbs, if both teams fail to get new stadiums in their current hometowns. Another stadium has been proposed in the city of Industry, near Los Angeles.
The study was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
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