ANAHEIM : Pact Between Rams, Arena Group Is OKd

The City Council Tuesday approved an agreement between the operators of the Anaheim Arena and the Los Angeles Rams that requires them to cooperate with each other when scheduling events at the two facilities.

The council vote confirms an out-of-court agreement that was reached in May, 1990, between the football club and the city, which owns the arena that will be operated by Ogden Facility Management Corp. of Anaheim.

The Rams had sued Anaheim, charging that the environmental review of the arena’s impact did not adequately address its effect on Anaheim Stadium. The $100-million arena will be built across the street from the stadium, where the Rams play home games, and the ballclub wanted to make sure that there would not be traffic and parking problems.

Ogden, which will lease the arena from the city, is prohibited from scheduling any arena event to begin within two hours of the start of a Rams game at the stadium if the arena event will draw more than 6,500 visitors.

The Rams agreed to provide Ogden with game scheduling information to help the arena operators plan events at the 20,000-seat indoor sports arena now under construction.

In addition, if the arena parking lot is available on a game day, Ogden will give the Rams 50% of the net parking revenues paid by those attending the football game.

Groundbreaking on the arena began last fall, and last month a contractor was hired by the city to build the $100-million project.

The arena is scheduled to open in the summer of 1993, and the city hopes to attract professional basketball and hockey teams to play in it.