Public Invited To First-Ever Rose Bowl Stadium Tours

PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — For the first time in nearly a century, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena will be hosting an open house Saturday.

Fans will get their chance to tour the Southern California historic landmark, which is currently undergoing an $181 million renovation effort, and walk through the same tunnels and along the same grounds which some of sports' greatest players and teams have graced.

Public tours - which mark the first time the Stadium has provided such access to the general public - will showcase a recently rediscovered original locker room from 1922, Rose Bowl memorabilia and artifacts, and a brand new premium seating Pavilion, the apex of the renovation project.

Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the newly-uncovered locker room used by either Knute Rockne or Pop Warner in 1925 serves as a living piece of sports history.

"People are seeing what it was like for football players, what those conditions were in 1922, 'cause it hasn't changed much, if at all," Dunn said.

Modeled after the Yale Bowl and designed by architect Myron Hunt, whose other buildings included the Huntington Art Gallery and the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the stadium held its first game in 1923.

In addition to recently hosting the 100th annual Rose Bowl Game and UCLA home football games, the Stadium has hosted three BCS national championship games, five Super Bowls, two World Cups (the 1994 men's finals and the 1999 women's finals) and events in two Olympics.

The renovation project has faced a series of delays and cost over-runs, along with a lawsuit filed by the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the city of Pasadena against a general contractor, alleging the company failed to supply properly skilled workers and had unreasonable delays.

While the contractor has filed a claim against the city, Dunn says construction is moving forward.

"We're gonna be about 85 percent done with what we had originally antipicated, so there's still some things to do..including moving the fence line out, creating concession stands," he said. "But the far majority of what we originally envisioned is complete."

Public walk-up tours will be $17.50 for adults, $14.50 for children, available at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Group tours will also be offered seven days a week for 20 or more people at $12 per person. Educational tours are $9 per student.

Click here for more information on Rose Bowl Stadium Tours.