Los Angeles's Record Rainfall Delays Inglewood NFL Stadium Until 2020
The new National Football League stadium in Inglewood has been delayed from its original open date in 2019 until the start of the 2020 season. Developers told the Los Angeles Times that Southern California’s record rainfall during the mass excavation phase was the cause of the delay.
As the Times mentions, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) received 15.4 inches of rain from November 2016 through February 2017 — more than double the average amount, and far surpassing recent years of drought in the region.
When the Hollywood Park venue is finally done in 2020, it will serve as the full-time home for two NFL teams. The Los Angeles Rams moved back to the city (from St. Louis) for the 2016 season. The Los Angeles Chargers franchise confirmed its own return engagement to Los Angeles this offseason. The team played its initial American Football League season in LA back in 1960 before moving to San Diego, where it played from 1961 through 2016.
While the teams wait for the Inglewood stadium to be finished, the Rams will play all home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park. The Chargers will play at Carson’s StubHub Center, home of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy.
The finished product in Inglewood is slated to cost $2.6 billion. In anticipation of the stadium’s completion, development projects are ready to sprout up all over surrounding neighborhoods.