Hollywood Park grandstand demolished

[bc_video_id:357406:]Hollywood Park ceases to exist.

Shortly after dawn on Sunday, the grandstand of the closed racetrack was demolished in a series of implosions, leveling the massive grandstands. The destruction was extensively covered by Los Angeles television stations.

Hollywood Park held its final day of racing on Dec. 22, 2013, the day California Chrome won the track’s final stakes in the King Glorious Stakes. The track’s barn area was closed at the end of January 2014.

Developers hope to use part of the property for the construction of a massive sports stadium that would host an NFL team. Stan Kroenke, who owns the St. Louis Rams, reached an agreement last winter with property owners Stockbridge Capital Group for a proposed stadium. Kroenke owns 60 of the 238 acres on the Hollywood Park property.

No NFL team has been granted the right to move to Los Angeles. The Rams could stay in Missouri, if government officials in Missouri and St. Louis reach a deal to build the team a new stadium there.

That project has competition.

The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers have expressed an interest in building a stadium that both teams could use in nearby Carson, Calif. The issue of whether any team will be allowed to move to Los Angeles may not take place until the final months of 2015.

With the destruction of the grandstand, much of the Hollywood Park property has been cleared. Other sections of the property are expected to be developed for homes, and retail and office space.