The idea came into focus for Stan Kroenke, the billionaire Rams owner and real estate developer, during a pre-dawn drive around Inglewood’s Hollywood Park racetrack in the summer of 2013.

It grew into an audacious plan to transform 298 acres into one of the world’s premier sports and entertainment districts with a $2.6-billion stadium as the centerpiece.


On Thursday, Kroenke stepped out of a black SUV on the site bustling with massive earth-moving equipment and the project took a ceremonial step forward.

With more than 100 invited guests in attendance — politicians, media, members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — Kroenke and others plunged shiny silver shovels into a pile of dirt and extolled the virtues of a privately financed stadium that’s expected to cost more than any other.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/l...117-story.html