Despite the cheerleaders, free food and fancy sketches, the plan to build a stadium downtown has been mostly just talk.

Until now. The first concrete step toward building this thing at the Los Angeles Convention Center will happen this week, according to a letter from at attorney for the developer to city leaders. That step is starting the Environmental Impact Report process.

The letter from Anshutz Entertainment Group/L.A. Event Center's attorney announces that the EIR's “notice of preparation” will go out soon. That means you'll be able to have a say regarding the proposed stadium's impacts as soon as …

… March 30, when a meeting on the project will be held at the Convention Center at 4 p.m.

The notice will be published by the city March 17.

The letter by William F. Delvac to city planning chief Michael LoGrande, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council states that ” … it should be possible to get it done, and get it done right.”

The letter states:

… We anticipate the most public scrutiny will be on transportation and parking issues — as it should be … AEG can and will provide adequate parking.

The 64,000-seat, $1 billion-plus stadium, to be called Farmers Field, would be build on land now taken up by the old Convention Center West Hall. That convention space would be rebuilt and improved as part of the project.

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