Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 16, 1994 TAG: 9401160042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He won't give up his field of dreams easily.
Even if Salem builds a new ballpark to keep its minor-league baseball team, McCadden says, he will continue his campaign to get a new multipurpose stadium in Roanoke.
He won't abandon the proposal in the face of opposition from some Gainsboro residents who don't want a stadium near Hotel Roanoke and their homes.
But he is willing to compromise - and back off the proposed site at First Street and Shenandoah Avenue.
And he's not making his proposal contingent on Roanoke's securing a minor-league baseball team.
"Some might have gotten the impression that I was pushing for a stadium mainly to get a baseball team," he said.
McCadden's dream began long before the news broke of the sale of the Salem Buccaneers and the need for a new ballpark to keep the team in the Roanoke Valley.
Moving the team to Roanoke apparently no longer is a possibility. The Bucs have been sold to a group headed by Eric A. Margenau of New York. Margenau said he has no intention of moving the team out of Salem.
"My primary concern was to get a stadium so our kids will have a place to play and compete in baseball, football and track [at the high school level]," McCadden said.
"If we had been lucky enough to get a ball team, that would have been good. But that's not why I got involved.
"It's a disgrace that we call this the capital of the Blue Ridge, and we don't have a decent place for our kids to play."
William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools play football at Victory Stadium, but it's old and badly in need of repair.
"You can't just let [Victory Stadium] keep deteriorating without doing something," he said.
Without a new stadium, he said, the city's high schools can't continue to be competitive in athletics, particularly in baseball, football and track.
McCadden has come under fire from Gainsboro residents who say a stadium would disrupt their neighborhood.
If McCadden wants a new ballpark, he should build it in his neighborhood on Noble Avenue Northeast, said Helen Davis, a Gainsboro resident.
"Perhaps the current site of Victory Stadium or an area near the city's sports complex would be more appropriate than any site within Historic Gainsboro," Davis said.
This week, she told City Council that the proposal for a stadium in Gainsboro was a "very cruel and insensitive" idea.
But McCadden said he never intended to harm the neighborhood.
"I was not looking to take anything away from Gainsboro. The important thing is to have a place for the kids," he said.
McCadden will take his proposal to the Henry Street Revival Committee next week. The committee, headed by former Roanoke Mayor Noel Taylor, is overseeing a plan to revitalize the former center for black restaurants, nightclubs and hotels.
"I have no intention of taking or moving a house," McCadden said.
He still believes that a stadium could be a good link between the Hotel Roanoke project and the Henry Street revival plan. "It would be a way to bridge the projects," he said.
He envisions that stores and restaurants still could be built along First Street. They could back up against the stadium.
"You've got to have a reason for people to come to Henry Street. You need more to do there, and this would help attract people," he said.
by CNB