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LA Coliseum Renovations: Peristyle Restoration Underway (Video)

By Michael Castillo

Jun 16, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Olympic torch and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum peristyle. NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to move the franchise from St. Louis to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. The Rams selected Jared Goff (not pictured) with the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NFL draft after a trade with the Tennessee Titans. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsMandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 16, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Olympic torch and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum peristyle. NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to move the franchise from St. Louis to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. The Rams selected Jared Goff (not pictured) with the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NFL draft after a trade with the Tennessee Titans. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsMandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The first major component of the LA Coliseum’s massive renovation project is underway, as USC begins to restore the iconic Peristyle.

Having hosted two Olympic games, two Super Bowls and a World Series, it’s hard to argue there’s a more historic and still-active stadium in the world than the LA Coliseum.

The legendary Peristyle featuring an Olympic torch serves as the classic vista, with old-world architecture that was part of the original design in 1923. Now, nearly 100 years later, and after decades of utility alterations, it is getting restored to its near-original state.

As part of USC’s multi-phase renovations of the LA Coliseum, the video boards atop the Peristyle have started to be removed, updated and relocated in the corners of the seating bowl flanking the Peristyle.

The project, which began at the end of March, is expected to be finished in June, far ahead of the 2017 USC football season.

Here’s a video discussing the project, as released by USC Athletics:

Currently, after weeks of work, both the south video board and the game clock have been removed. Simultaneously, the anchors or base to the new Daktronics boards have been chalked out in the corners.

Here’s what how the Coliseum looked on Saturday during the annual USC Spring Game:

All in all, the restoration of the Peristyle is one of the most necessary and well-regarded aspects of the LA Coliseum renovations.

In recent years, USC’s placement of the Audi Suites in front of the Peristyle has received flak as an eyesore, but returning the arches and torch to its original state will only further give the school reason to show off the iconic architecture going forward.

RELATED: Renderings of the LA Coliseum for 2024 Olympics (Video)

Interested in watching the renovations? Watch the live cam, which is set up here. (Don’t get too addicted, though.)

The erection of the Coliseum’s planned press box/luxury suite tower will begin in 2018. USC won’t relocate during the construction, though should Los Angeles win the bid for the 2024 Olympic games, the Trojans would need to play the 2024 season elsewhere.

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