LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved plans for the construction of a new stadium that will replace USC's McAlister Field for the women's soccer and lacrosse teams.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
In a 13-0 vote, council members green lit planning documents and other required changes to allow the construction of the stadium. In a similar vote, the council denied an appeal, which looked to prevent the university from obtaining a conditional use permit for the sale of alcohol during events at the stadium.
Council members Nithya Raman and Marqueece Harris-Dawson were absent during the vote.
The project, called the Rawlinson Stadium, will be a three-story stadium with 27,714 square feet of floor area with a total occupancy of 2,458 people, according to the project summary. The east side of the stadium will consist of a two-story pavilion level with a height of 15 feet.
A six-foot-tall fence will be installed on the east, north and west sides of the stadium. Additionally, the project will include several amenities, such as locker rooms, training areas, medical center, an audio/visual room and television and radio broadcast areas.
Rawlinson Stadium will replace the existing McAlister Field, located at the corner of 30th and Hoover streets in South L.A., and cost USC approximately $38 million.
USC opened McAlister Field in recognition of Title IX, a federal law mandating equal gender opportunity in education programs and activities. In honor of the "50th anniversary of Title IX," USC proposed to develop the field into a stadium for its women's soccer and lacrosse teams, according to a report from the Department of City Planning.
The project has received a lot of support from USC athletes and students, the business community and some local residents.
There's also been some opposition to the project.
Philip Augustus, a representative of SEIU Local 721, which represents more than 10,000 public sector workers in the city of Los Angeles, including more than 100 USC employees, previously said the environmental impact review was more than 10 years old.
Additionally, there were concerns about how the stadium could increase USC's student enrollment while the university faces a lack of student housing.
USC has emphasized that the project will not impact student enrollment and that the project would be developed on a parcel of land zoned for housing.
The stadium was previously approved by the city's Planning Commission and the council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok