Peek Inside Rose Bowl’s New Pavilion, Behind-the-Scenes Tour (Photos)

The first-ever public tours of the Rose Bowl began in June and Patch got a behind-the-scenes look at some of the tour locations and the new pavilion at the heart of ongoing $181 million renovations.

See the photo gallery attached to this article to peek behind the scenes at the Rose Bowl and find out more.

The new pavilion features three levels of premium seating, a posh loge lounge and media spaces on either side. Bristol Farms will be making all the pavilion food, which will include meat-carving stations and also casual food like hot dogs and sandwiches.

Other current renovations include:

*Eight widened tunnels that decrease exit time from 35 minutes to 13 minutes

*A redesigned scoreboard made to look like the 1948 scoreboard

*Upgraded concessions

Part of the purpose of ongoing renovations is to “bring the stadium up to a level with other stadiums,” Rose Bowl CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn told Patch.

Stadiums at University of Oregon and Oregon State, among others, inspired Dunn. 

Other stadium renovations for the near future include removing some rows and creating a walkway next year. 

“I don’t think we’ll ever be done,” said Dunn, noting that tour revenue will ultimately help with Rose Bowl renovations. “It’s so important, it’s iconic status in the community.”

Rose Bowl Tours

Rose Bowl tours began this month and are about an hour and a half in length.

See more on Rose Bowl tours and getting tickets here.

Tour guests can view locations like the newer UCLA locker rooms and the original 1920s locker room that was used for storage since the 1970s until recently.

See video of the contrasting locker rooms here.

Public tour guests can also step in the shoes of sports legends and see the post-game interview room, where they can stand behind the podium, take photos and pretend to answer questions from the press.

“It’s an interactive area,” Rose Bowl Tour Sales and Operations Coordinator Kayla Kilpatrick told Patch. “Once [people] are up there they ham it up and enjoy it.”

Tour locations are subject to change, Rose Bowl officials noted.

See photos of the new pavilion, old and new locker rooms, post-game area and more in the photo gallery attached to this article.

All photos taken by Jessica Hamlin.

What do you think of the Rose Bowl renovations? Are you interested in taking a tour? Share in the comments.