LOS ANGELES -- The Atlantic Richfield Co. signed on today as a sponsor of the 1984 Olympics, agreeing to spend $9 million or more to refurbish the Los Angeles Coliseum, install a world class track in the facility and build six training tracks at other sites around the city.
ARCO is the third corporation to make a major financial commitment to the Games, which organizers have promised to stage without a deficit and without government aid.
'This is a particularly important announcement in that these tracks are being funded by the largest Los Angeles-based corporation and will have a permanent home in our community,' Peter Ueberroth, president of the Olymics Organizing Committee, told reporters.
'Millions of California athletes will have an opportunity to train and condition themselves on these tracks.'
Ueberroth announced that two of the training tracks, which also might be used for some preliminary track and field events and for other sports in the Olympics, will be built at the Cal State Los Angeles, a four-year university, and at Los Angeles Southwest College, a two-year community college.
Both schools, located in predominantly Hispanic and black sections of the city, have large minority enrollments. Officials said the other four training tracks would all be built at colleges and high schools, to be chosen mainly on the basis of 'community need' for such facilities.
The exact amount of ARCO's financial commitment will not be determined until a final decision is made on the composition of the tracks, which Eubberoth promised will be 'the fastest in the world.'
Other work to be done at the Coliseum, which will also be the site of the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, will include improvements in lighting and restroom facilities, repair of the concrete structure and installation of medical facilities.
Companies making similar commitments to the Games are McDonald's, which will build a swim stadium at the University of Southern California, and the Southland Corp., which will build a velodrome at a site still to be determined. Similar sponsorships for other venues are expected to be announced in the future.
