Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Multi-purpose stadium in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, United States
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium in Exposition Park, designed by John and Donald Parkinson and completed in 1923. Its light beige stone peristyle at the east end has a central arch rising to a flat-topped gable, with metal letters reading "LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM" above a row of five interlocking Olympic rings. Two bronze male statues on tall tapered columns flank a dark metal structure in front of the facade, and smaller arches continue to either side.
The facility opened in 1923 and later hosted two Olympic Games, first in 1932 during the Great Depression and again in 1984 during the Cold War. Over the following decades, modernizations introduced new scoreboards and expanded safety zones.
The stadium has been the USC Trojans football home since 1923; the first game there, on 6 October 1923, was a 23:7 USC win over Pomona College before 12,836 spectators. The German press calls it "The Grand Old Lady", and its peristyle carries the Olympic rings and cauldron from the 1932 Games.
The field runs east to west, with the press box on the south side and the peristyle, cauldron and Olympic rings at the east end. The main entrance faces the peristyle arch, where the lettering and rings are lit at night. USC operates the stadium, and the grounds sit next to the university's University Park campus in Exposition Park.
The torch tower holds a flame that lights up during games, special events, and in memory of the 1984 Olympics. Beneath the structure, older locker rooms and tunnel sections still remain from the original 1923 design.
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