Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994 TAG: 9405020170
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke County recreation officials have scrambled to find enough basketball courts in schools in the northern part of the county for youth and adult recreation games.
Northside Junior High School needs a new and larger auditorium. Both the junior and the high schools need more gym space for physical education classes.
To meet the diverse athletic and school needs in the northern part of the county, consultant architects and planners have developed plans for a $7.2 million field house and gymnasium that would seat 3,000.
The complex would have an indoor track, nine practice basketball courts, four locker rooms, soccer practice areas, a kitchen, concession stands and other areas.
John Fulton, an architect with Balzer and Associates, said the proposed facility could meet the community's needs and also serve as a regional athletic complex.
Fulton said it would have a basketball court that would be suitable for college games. It would be an ideal facility for tournaments, he said.
The county School Board likes the proposal, but there is one catch - there is no money available for it.
"This would have to be a joint project with the county. We don't have the funds to do it alone," said Superintendent Bayes Wilson.
Wilson said the architects, school and recreation officials have done a lot of work on the project. Now it is time to present the plan to the Board of Supervisors to see if it is willing to help finance the plan.
Supervisor Bob Johnson, who represents the Hollins District, which covers the northern part of the county, said Friday that the field house is a "viable project.'' He has been involved in the development of the plans. The lower the cost, the greater the chance that the facility will be built, Johnson said.
The architects have developed an alternative project that would cost $5.2 million, but it would not have an indoor track or space for field events. It would have fewer basketball courts and locker rooms. School officials favor the larger facility.
School Board Chairman Frank Thomas said the county might want to explore the possibility of regional cooperation on the project.
Roanoke City Councilman John Edwards has said the valley needs an indoor track because the nearest ones are located at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. Edwards said it is almost incredible that the valley does not have an indoor track.
If the county built the larger field house, it might generate income from rent, concessions and other charges to help with the operating costs, Wilson said.
School Board member Jerry Canada, who represents the Hollins District, said he believes the time is right to proceed with the project: "People are tired of talking about it,'' Canada said.
Board member Maurice "Buck" Mitchell said the county needs to focus on the field house as a regional facility, so residents in other areas of the county don't think that Northside is getting more than the other high schools.
Fulton said the field house is designed so that an indoor swimming pool can be added. Donna Henderson, Northside High School principal, said the Virginia High School League expects competitive swimming to be part of high schools' athletic programs by 2000.
To bolster their campaign to have the supervisors help finance the project, school officials are trying to document the county's recreation department use of existing school facilities and the projected use of the field house.
by CNB