LA28, the organizing committee for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, made the request after identifying financial and safety concerns at the city’s facility. In August, the seven-member Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Games backed the proposal.
Earlier this year, the City Council approved several updates to the Olympics venue plan, which city officials said represented more than $150 million in combined cost savings and revenue boosts.
The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena is seen on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Among the updates, LA28 planned to use the John C. Argue Swimming Stadium at Exposition Park, which was also used for swimming events in the 1932 Olympic Games. Recently, the organizing committee determined the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center would be best suited to host diving events in 2028.
Shana Ferguson, LA28 chief of sport and games delivery, previously said the Exposition Park stadium was not up to international and domestic standards for swim competition, and there were issues related to the diving towers.
In exchange, LA28 offered to make certain improvements to the stadium pool, bringing it up to national and international standards. LA28 noted that moving diving events to Pasadena would result in nearly $18 million in savings.
“LA28 determined that the Swim Stadium pool would require a complete reconstruction in order to meet Olympic standards,” according to a city report. “The necessary reconstruction is not able to occur simultaneously with the LA Memorial Coliseum track construction projects due to limited space within the surrounding footprint. The historical nature and close proximity of these facilities adds further complexity and cost.”
The stadium pool improvements are estimated at less than $2 million to $3 million, Ferguson noted.
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