
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140634
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOCCER COMPLEX MAY BE BUILT AT ANOTHER SITE

A complex of soccer fields that had been proposed near the Roanoke Regional Airport might be developed at another site in the Roanoke Valley.

"We don't feel the project is dead because a specific site is not available," said Roger Jones, president of the Roanoke Valley Youth Soccer Club.

The club is investigating alternative sites for the complex, Jones said today. "We still believe it is a viable project."

The club has withdrawn its request to use land next to the clear zone for one of the airport's runways because of concerns about safety and aircraft operations.

It had wanted to lease about 50 acres on the north side of Peters Creek Road.

"Concerns over the use of this land for our purposes appear too difficult to overcome at this time," the club said in a letter to the Regional Airport Commission.

The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier the proposed complex would not be "a compatible land use" with the airport because of safety and aircraft operations.

The Air Transport Association of America, an organization that represents major airlines, also said it would be "imprudent" to allow a soccer complex on the airport property.

The complex that had been proposed would have included seven regulation soccer fields and one smaller practice field. It would have been similar to those developed in recent years near Richmond and Greensboro and Raleigh in North Carolina.

Club officials said the accessibility of the airport site made it ideal for tournaments that could attract thousands of visitors.

The club is a non-profit corporation that was organized in 1985 to sponsor youth teams that compete in games and tournaments conducted in Virginia and other Southeastern states. The club grew from 11 teams with 200 players in 1985 to 19 teams, including four girls' teams, with over 330 players in 1990.

The club's annual "Crestar Festival Soccer Tournament" has grown rapidly since it became a Memorial Day weekend event in 1986. The first tournament attracted 41 teams and 1,400 visitors. The last tournament attracted 176 teams and over 6,500 players and visitors, and contributed an estimated $1 million to the valley economy.

by CNB