The Forum reopens tonight with an Eagles concerts and it's both a return to form and a brand new day in Inglewood. The new owners, who also run New York's Madison Square Garden, have given the venue a major overhaul, bringing back a lot of the glamour and its 1960s red paint job; and the new Forum is set to compete with Downtown's Staples Center, meaning new life—and new revenue, thanks to a profit-sharing deal—for Inglewood, which could use the boost. (On top of that, the Hollywood Park Racetrack across the street is being redeveloped into a huge multi-use community.) The Forum was built in 1968 and designed by Charles Luckman (who also designed Madison Square Garden, incidentally); for decades it was one of LA's biggest-deal concert venues, as well as the home of the Lakers and Kings. In 2000, both teams moved to Staples and the Forum was sold to the Faithful Central Bible Church, which used it for Sunday services and rented it out once in a while for concerts or sporting events. MSG picked it up in mid-2012 and got to work earlier this year on a major reno.
The reborn Forum has 17,500 (much more comfortable) seats in a bowl formation with no suites (just open boxes), an LED ceiling (for starry effect), tons of new food and beverage options (Coolhaus, La Brea Bakery, Cole's, Carney's, Bludsos, and more), new bathrooms, new dressing rooms and other artist amenities (including a game room with a golf simulator and vintage arcade games), a restored VIP Forum Club with a dedicated entrance, a separate Chase Lounge for Chase-related VIPs, and of course all the latest technical and rigging systems, for the roadies in the crowd. Outside, the parapet on top of the building is gone, the outdoor terrace has been renovated, new lighting's been added, and there's a huge new marquee in the form of three LED screens at Manchester and Prairie. Right now there's also a giant "Hotel California" record spinning on the roof.
And everywhere: lots of signs for Chase, which is a major sponsor, obviously. In fact, the new official name is the Forum, presented by Chase. Get used to that.
· Here's What the Revamped Inglewood Forum Will Look Like [Curbed LA]
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