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Overview

This round arena strongly recalled Roman precedents, down to its name and the modernized colonnade that ringed its perimeter. The Los Angeles Conservancy has said of the building: "Opened in 1967, the Forum rises on its Inglewood site like a modern-day Roman Coliseum. Its financier, Jack Kent Cooke, was a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman turned multi-millionaire who dreamed of building "sports' answer to the Taj Mahal" in Los Angeles." (See Los Angeles Conservancy, "The Forum," accessed 09/28/2017.)

Building History

Jack Kent Cooke (1912-1997), who purchased the Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Association (NBA) team in 09/1965 and founded of the Los Angeles Kings National Hockey League (NHL) team in 1966-1967, directed the construction of the "Fabulous Forum" and controlled it until 1979. The Forum officially opened on 12/30/1967. Cooke sold the property (along with the Kings and Lakers) to Dr. Jerry Buss (b. 1934) for $67.5 million, a huge sum at that time.

Buss and his company, Ogden Entertainment, owned the Forum from 1979-2000; in 1988, Buss sold the naming rights to the Forum to the Chatsworth, CA-based Gulf and Western Savings and Loan for 15 years. (Gulf and Western, however, lasted until 1997 when its was absorbed by Washington Mutual Bank. Its signage remained on the building until 2006.) In 12/2000, Forum Enterprises, Incorporated, headed by Dr. Kenneth C. Ulmer, took over ownership of the Inglewood Forum. Ulmer's Faithful Central Bible Church had its Sunday services at the Forum from 2001-2009. New York, NY-based Madison Square Garden, LP, purchased an option to buy the Forum in 12/2010 for $23 million.

Building Notes

Designed for the Southern California sports mogul, Jack Kent Cooke, who owned the Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Association franchise in the 1960s; it cost $16 million to build, including the property; the following teams played here: Los Angeles Kings (NHL), 1967-1999; Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), 1967-1999; the Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) continued to play here in 2005; the building seated 16,005 for hockey, 17,505 for basketball.

Tel: (310) 419-3100 (2005);

PCAD id: 3674