The dilapidated and underappreciated Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is long gone, and LAFC's $350-million Banc of California Stadium is now ready to rise in its place.

Passersby in Exposition Park may hae noticed that a tower crane now stands high above the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Figueroa Street, where vertical construction has now commenced for the 22,000-seat soccer venue.

The project, which was designed by the architecture firm Gensler, is expected to open in time for the 2018 MLS season.

Banc of California Stadium is the first of several major developments slated to remake Exposition Park over the coming years, including a $270-million renovation of the Los Angeles Coliseum, a large-scaled mixed-use complex and potentially the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.