A demolition crew Sunday morning used explosives to bring down the grandstand at the shuttered Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood.
A series of planned detonations ripped through the structure at 5:59 a.m., resulting in a collapse that began at the south end of the structure and continued through the north end.
The removal of the longstanding racetrack and grandstand is an initial step in a development project that is expected to bring a massive multi-use facility to the location, near the intersection of Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue (map).
The centerpiece of the planned development will be what Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts described as an 80,000-seat “NFL-specification stadium.”
“We just witnessed 75 years of history come tumbling down,” Butts said after the implosion, noting that the horse-racing track averaged about 100 meets per year during its heyday.
“Like a phoenix rising from the ashes,” the mayor said, the fabled venue will be replaced by the football stadium, 2,500 residential units, 1 million square feet of retail space, 1 million square feet of office space, a 6,000-seat performing arts theater, a movie theater and hotel.